IPL 2026 Auction: Rishabh Pant To MS Dhoni — Full List Of Most Expensive Players At Each Auction

The mini auction for the 2026 Indian Premier League is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, Dec. 16, in Abu Dhabi. The day-long event will witness more than 350 shortlisted male cricketers from around the world going under the hammer as 10 IPL franchisees look to fill 77 vacant slots. But before the bidding war begins, let's take a look at the most expensive players in the history of IPL auctions across 18 seasons. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the iconic India and Chennai Super Kings captain, became the highest-paid cricketer at the inaugural IPL auction back in 2008. Dhoni was valued at $1.5 million (approx, Rs 13 crore then) by CSK. It was the beginning of the league's most productive association as Dhoni led CSK to five IPL trophies. 

Ahead of IPL 2009, former England cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff jointly emerged as the most expensive players with a contract value of $1.55 million (approx Rs 14.5 crore then). While Pietersen played for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Flintoff went to the Chennai Super Kings camp. 

New Zealand's Shane Bond and West Indies' Kieron Pollard grabbed the spotlight at the IPL 2010 auction as they were picked for $7,50,000 (approx Rs 6 crore) each. Bond, an express quick, represented the Kolkata Knight Riders. Power-hitting giant Pollard played for the Mumbai Indians.

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir (KKR - $2.4M), all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (CSK - $2M) and Australian maverick Glenn Maxwell (MI - $1M) became the most expensive players in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 IPL auctions.

'Sixer King' Yuvraj Singh was the highest-paid IPL cricketer for two straight seasons in 2014 and 2015. He represented RCB for Rs 14 crore and then went to the Delhi Capitals for Rs 16 crore. The only other player to have achieved the feat remains England's Test captain Ben Stokes, who represented Rising Pune Super Giants in IPL 2017 and Rajasthan Royals in 2018 for Rs 14.5 crore and Rs 12.5 crore, respectively. In between, Australia’s Shane Watson became the most expensive IPL player in the 2016 edition. He was picked by RCB for Rs 9.5 crore. 

Indian left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat (Rajasthan Royals) and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy (Punjab Kings) jointly held the tag at the IPL 2019 auction for Rs 8.4 crore. IPL franchises then broke the bank for Pat Cummins (KKR - Rs 15.5 crore), Chris Morris (RR - Rs 16.25 crore) and Ishan Kishan (MI - Rs 15.25 crore) at the 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions of the IPL.

Sam Curran became IPL's most expensive player ever ahead of the 2023 season when Punjab Kings signed him on for Rs 18.5 crore. He was pipped to the tag by Mitchell Starc at the subsequent IPL 2024 auction, where the Australian fetched Rs 24.75. Starc played for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant then beat both Curran and Starc when he earned a winning bid of Rs 27 crore from Lucknow Super Giants.