The IPL 2026 auction took place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16. The ten franchises spent ₹215.45 crore on 77 players, including 29 overseas cricketers. Cameron Green, an Australian all-rounder, was the auction’s most expensive acquisition. He was purchased by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for ₹25.20 crore.
KKR spent ₹18 crore for Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, among other significant purchases at the mini-auction. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) unexpectedly acquired two uncapped Indian players, Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer, for ₹14.2 crore apiece. England’s Liam Livingstone also received a significant pay raise. Sunrisers Hyderabad purchased him for ₹13 crore.
The IPL is a key league for selecting players for major international events such as the T20 World Cup. In this piece, we look at three Indian players who were part of Team India’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad but will not compete in the IPL 2026 edition.
1. Deepak Hooda
Deepak Hooda made it to India’s 2022 T20 World Cup team with his performances in the T20I series against Ireland. His tournament chance came in just one outing — against South Africa in Perth — yet he was dismissed first ball for a second time after getting a faint edge to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock off Anrich Nortje’s wide delivery.
So far Hooda has donned the national jersey in 10 ODIs and 21 T20Is, piling up 153 and 368 runs respectively. His most notable moment for his country came in June 2022, when he lashed a stunning 104 from 57 balls against Ireland in Dublin. It is worth mentioning that it was the only occasion when the 30-year-old had managed to score more than fifty runs at the international level.
He went unsold at the auction of IPL 2026, with a base price of ₹75 lakh. Let go off by Chennai Super Kings following a forgettable IPL 2025 season that saw him score just 31 runs from five innings, Hooda’s overall IPL numbers mirror his travails. In 125 games, he has scored 1,496 runs at an average of 17.60 and a strike rate of 127.64, including eight fifties, with a high score of 64.
2. Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin, Who had a good outing for India in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia is not retained (6 matches, 6 wickets @25.83 avg and economy rate of 8.15). His best effort came against Zimbabwe at Melbourne with the match being 3/22. He also took 2/21 against the Netherlands in Sydney, but was wicketless in the semifinal defeat to England in Adelaide.
Ashwin will not play in IPL 2026 : Ravichandran Ashwin has left the Indian T20 league after formally announcing his retirement from international cricket earlier this year. He retired from the IPL in August, having withdrawn for international cricket in December 2024 during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series held in Australia. The experienced off-spinner played for CSK in IPL 2025 and he was bought for ₹9.75 crore but could only take seven wickets from nine matches.
Ashwin retires from the IPL having played 221 games and claimed 187 wickets at an average of 30.22 and economy rate of 7.20. Only Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla have taken more wickets than him in the tournament.
3. Dinesh Karthik
The Indian selectors recalled Dinesh Karthik to the squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup after his stunning comeback as a finisher with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. His late-career resurgence ranked among the most talked-about selections ahead of the tournament.
But Karthik failed to have an impact on the grandest stage. He featured in four games in the World Cup, managing only 14 runs from three innings at a strike-rate of 63.63. His defining experience occurred in the thrilling chase against Pakistan at Melbourne, when he was stumped off the penultimate ball for one.
Former Hyderabad player Karthik announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in June 2024. In his final IPL season, he delivered a strong showing for RCB, scoring 326 runs from 13 innings at a strike rate of 187.35. He finished his IPL career with 4,842 runs from 257 matches at a strike rate of 135.36. After retirement, Karthik transitioned into coaching and took on the role of batting coach and mentor for the Bengaluru franchise.
