IPL 2026 Auction: 359 players, 77 slots available… 9 new players added to the auction list; Virat Kohli's favorite among them.

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) mini-auction, the BCCI has made a significant change to the players' list. The board had initially released a list of 350 players, but late last night, nine more players were added.

This increases the total number of players participating in the auction to 359. This change was made very close to the auction preparations, which is surprising for the franchises as well.

Among the nine new players, the biggest buzz is around IPL winner Swastik Chikara, who was recently released by RCB. His name was not in the initial list, which surprised many. Now that he has been included, it is clear that teams will be keeping an eye on him.

IPL 2026 Auction: Indian Players Get Preference

The nine new players include six Indian players: Manishankar Murasingh (Tripura), Chama Milind (Hyderabad), KL Srijith (Karnataka, wicketkeeper, former MI player), Rahul Raj Namala (Uttarakhand), Virat Singh (Jharkhand), and Swastik Chikara.

Besides them, there is one player from an Associate nation (Malaysia), whose name is Virandeep Singh. Also included are Ethan Bosch from South Africa and Chris Green from Australia. Some of these players have played in the IPL before, while others have made it to the list for the first time after excellent performances at the domestic level.

How many players will be bid on in the IPL 2026 Auction?

The final IPL list has a total of 359 players, including 247 Indian and 112 foreign players. However, only 77 players will be bid on in the auction, including 31 foreign players. KKR has the biggest purse for the auction.

They have Rs 64.30 crore in their purse and 13 slots available. CSK has Rs 43.4 crore in their purse and 9 slots available BCCI corrects the error

Delhi-born Nikhil Chaudhary has played domestic cricket for Punjab and has also played alongside players like Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and Shubman Gill. He last played professional cricket in India almost six years ago.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nikhil went to Australia to visit his uncle but got stuck there due to the lockdown. It was during this time that he decided to restart his cricket career in Australia. After several years of hard work, he managed to secure a place in Australian domestic cricket.

Last month, he made history by becoming the first India-born player to score a century in the Sheffield Shield. He achieved this feat while playing for Tasmania. Nikhil Chaudhary has also played in several overseas white-ball leagues, including the Global Super League, Max60 Caribbean, and Abu Dhabi T10, but he was mistakenly listed as an Indian player in the initial IPL 2026 auction list. In the revised list released on Tuesday evening, the BCCI corrected this error and reclassified Nikhil as an Australian (Overseas Player).