Mumbai, December 16: As the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction began, all eyes were on Mumbai based players, Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw as they have remained unsold in the auction for the past two seasons. The IPL 2026 Auction is being held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Sarfaraz Khan was placed in the first set of players at a base price of Rs 75 lakh. However, Sarfaraz Khan failed to find any buyers for himself despite a power-packed performance during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025.
On Tuesday, Sarfaraz scored 73 runs off just 22 balls hours before the auction began during the Mumbai Vs Rajasthan clash. He also celebrated his quick half-century by doing push ups in the middle of the pitch, displaying his fitness ahead of the auction. However, the franchises ignored him during the auction.
Similarly, Prithvi Shaw also failed to find any buyers at the auction. He was also placed in the first set of players at a base price of Rs 75 lakh. He has also remained unsold for the past two seasons of the IPL.
A total of 369 players are up for auction for the upcoming season of IPL and 77 slots are set to be filled. Ten franchises on on board and competing against each other for the best players they could for their team.
In major bids, Australian cricketer Cameron Green was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping Rs 25.2 crore. They also bought Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana for Rs 18 crore. KKR invested heavily in these two players during the IPL 2026 Auction.
