3 players with ₹1 crore base price who are likely to go unsold at IPL 2026 auction

The IPL 2026 auction will be held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16. A total of 350 players will go under the hammer at the mini-auction. As many as 1,390 players had registered for the auction, but the long list was pruned down to 350. While 350 players have been shortlisted for the auction, there will be 77 slots up for grabs, with 31 of them being reserved for overseas players.

The final player list for the IPL 2026 auction features 240 Indian cricketers and 110 overseas players. The pool includes 224 uncapped Indian cricketers and 14 uncapped overseas players. Also, 16 capped Indian cricketers and 96 capped overseas cricketers have been shortlisted for the auction.

There are eight price brackets for the IPL 2026 auction, with ₹2 crore being the highest and ₹30 lakh being the lowest. Seventeen players are part of the ₹1 crore base price category for the auction. In this feature, we look at three players with a reserve price of ₹1 crore who might go unsold at the IPL 2026 auction.

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#1 Reeza Hendricks (South Africa)

South Africa's Reeza Hendricks is yet to feature in the IPL. A top order batter, he has played 88 T20Is for the Proteas and has scored 2,491 runs at an average of 29.30 and a strike rate of 129.53. Even in his overall T20 career, Hendricks has a strike rate of under 130 from 286 games (127.95), which is unlikely to interest too many IPL franchises during the mini-auction.

If we look at Hendricks' performance in the CSA T20 Challenge, the 36-year-old did reasonably well for Lions, scoring 211 runs in five innings at an average of 52.75 and a strike rate of 139.73, with three half-centuries. He was out for eight in the second T20I against India in Mullanpur, cleaned up by Varun Chakaravarthy. There is a strong possibility of Hendricks going unsold at the IPL mini-auction.

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#2 Josh Tongue (England)

England fast bowler Josh Tongue has also listed a base price of ₹1 crore for the IPL 2026 auction. The right-arm pacer is yet to play white-ball cricket for England. The pace bowler has only featured in six Tests in which he has claimed 31 wickets at an average of 30, with the aid of two five-fers and one four-fer. Tongue has produced decent numbers in first-class cricket as well.

If we look at his T20 numbers, though, Tongue has featured in 21 matches in which he has claimed 29 wickets at an average of 19.03 and an economy rate of 9.07, with a best of 3-21. In the Hundred, he was the leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps in six innings at an economy rate of 8.08. Despite this, he is unlikely to be sold at the IPL 2026 auction since Tongue is not considered a T20 specialist.

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#3 Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka's T20I captain Charith Asalanka has a rather underwhelming record in the format. In 70 matches so far, he has scored 1,357 runs at an average of 22.61 and a strike rate of 126.35, with six half-centuries. His overall T20 numbers are similar. In 153 matches, he has scored 3,015 runs at a strike rate of 127.80. Asalanka is not renowned as someone who can score at a swift pace in T20Is.

If we look at the left-handed batter's T20I numbers in 2025, he has only managed 156 runs in 12 innings at an average of 15.60 and a strike rate of 121.87, with a best of 46. There have been reports doing the rounds that the Sri Lankan board is even considering sacking him as T20I captain ahead of the World Cup. As such, it is unlikely that he will find too many takers at the IPL 2026 auction.