IPL 2026 Auction Telecast Channel: Where to watch and live streaming details in India

The IPL 2026 auction is all set to take place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16. This year's event will be a mini-auction. A total of 359 players have been shortlisted for the auction. The live telecast of the IPL auction will be available on Star Sports network channels, while the live streaming can be followed on the JioHotstar app as well as the website.

Of the 350-plus players who have been picked to go under the hammer on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, 244 are Indian cricketers, while 115 are overseas cricketers. The highest reserve price for the mini-auction is ₹2 crore, while the lowest is ₹30 lakh. Forty players (included two Indians) have listed their name in the highest base price category of ₹2 crore.

While more than 350-plus players have been shortlisted for the IPL 2026 auction, the 10 franchises will battle it out to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, with 31 of the spots being reserved for overseas players. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head into the auction with the biggest purse of ₹64.30 crore. They can fill up a maximum of 13 slots, with six of them being for overseas players.

IPL 2026 Auction: Telecast channel in India

In India, the live telecast of the IPL 2026 auction will be available on Star Sports network channels. While the auction will get underway at 1:00 PM local time (2:30 PM IST), the live telecast of the one-day event will start at 2:00 PM IST.

IPL 2026 Auction: Live streaming in India

In India, the live streaming of the IPL 2026 auction can be watched on JioHotstar. The event can be followed live on both the app and the website.

New rule for IPL 2026 auction

The tournament organizers have introduced a new 'maximum-fee' rule for overseas players who will be part of the IPL mini auction. As per the rule, no overseas cricketer can be paid more than ₹18 crore even if the winning bid exceeds this amount.

The 'maximum fee' rule states that an overseas player's maximum fee at a mini-auction will be the lower value between the highest retention slab (which is ₹18 crore) and the highest price at the previous IPL mega auction (₹27 crore for Rishabh Pant in this instance).

Edited by Renin Wilben Albert