Ranking the ten squads from best to worst after IPL 2026 Auction ft. CSK

The 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction was held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16 as the franchises completed their squads for the next season. The teams had submitted the list of their retained players in November and used the remaining purse to acquire new players.

The 2026 Auction was a historic affair as record bids were launched and uncapped players became the major attraction. In the end, what the franchises have end up with is the culmination of retentions, trades, and acquisitions. The final squad which includes the core group, back ups, bench players, and prospects, will dictate how the team fares during the 2026 season.

On that note, let us rank the ten squads from best to worst after the IPL 2026 Auction.

#1 Mumbai Indians

MI were already one of the most formidable outfits on paper after the mega auction, as evidenced by their third-placed finish in the 2025 season. They have managed to work on their vulnerable spots during the off-season through trades, and after the auction, they once again have a quite promising side to put out on the field.

While form will play a massive factor as the tournament unfolds, even if the majority of the first-team players play up to their potential, it will prove to be enough for MI to be easily in the playoffs. With an improved Rohit Sharma and the returning Quinton de Kock, the franchise have a trusted opening combination once again.

They have more or less covered all the remaining bases as well, with a vital part of the puzzle being Sherfane Rutherford. If MI can somehow figure out a combination where they can fit both Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar, which is plausible because of their Indian-heavy batting, they have a well-rounded bowling unit as well. MI also have a very strong bench, with options like Mayank Markande, Corbin Bosch, and Shardul Thakur, capable of being impact players when needed.

#2 Royal Challengers Bengaluru

The defending champions won IPL 2025 because of the sheer prowess of the squad, and considering that they retained most of it and brought in some reinforcements, they remain one of the strongest units in the competition.

RCB already have a well-settled combination that they need not tamper, and their primary focus is more oriented towards bench strength. With two major signings in Venkatesh Iyer and Jacob Duffy, both arguably being first-team material, along with a slew of future prospects, RCB have upgraded on an already stellar squad, and look in decent shape to mount a serious title defence.

The one thing that could have propelled RCB's strength even further would have been improving on their spin bowling stocks. While both Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya played their roles well in IPL 2025, other proven options wouldn't particularly hurt the side.

#3 Punjab Kings

With a very strong Indian batting core, a proper blend of experience and youth, a proven captain and coach, along with a strong bench, PBKS have the proper setup to go one step further after narrowly missing out on the title in IPL 2025.

PBKS had to take care of their overseas unit after both Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell declared their unavailability for the next season. They arguably availed the best possible option in Cooper Connolly who nearly ticks all of the boxes, alongwith the fact that he is a massive prospect.

The only minor chink in their armour is they don't have a decent backup for Arshdeep Singh, a bowler who can bowl in all three phases of the innings. Their other Indian seam bowling options, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yash Thakur, are largely death over specialists.

#4 Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR had a landmark auction to conduct their rebuild and have certainly upgraded their squad with some smart picks. They had the task of revamping the top order, the lower middle order, and get in an overseas bowling spearhead. All of the picks to fill those slots had clarity behind it as Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Rachin Ravindra, Mustafizur Rahman, and Finn Allen, perfectly fit into their plans.

If they can get this squad in the right order in the team setup, it has a lot of potential. With Venkatesh Iyer not in the scheme of things anymore, it gives the room for players like Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh better roles to excel. As far as their replacement for Andre Russell is concerned, Rovman Powell's form and Ramandeep Singh's potential could prove to be the answer as KKR did not really go for a finisher at the auction.

KKR have got it wrong in the past with their batting order and team combination, but the way the new-look squad is shaped up, it is arguably hard to miss as the players' strength are quite obvious.

#5 Chennai Super Kings

A major reason why CSK still have a relatively good squad even after their questionable auction is because of their shrewd signings as trades and replacements. The five-time winners have a well-settled top five, but what comes after that is what makes CSK's strength a debatable subject.

With Dewald Brevis and Noor Ahmad being among the first names on the team sheet, CSK have the room to play only two more overseas players out of Nathan Ellis, Matt Henry, Akeal Hosein, and Jamie Overton, and their choices will dictate a lot of how the team intends to shape their playing XI.

Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, and Rahu Chahar are relatively reliable Indian bowlers that form a little core, but for this CSK side to really flourish, their new star uncapped signings, Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma have to come into play from the start.

A cause of concern in the CSK setup is the fact that they lack raw pace in their pace bowling unit. A speedster that could pressure on the batters in the middle overs while the spinners operated would have been a solid element to improve their side.

#6 Rajasthan Royals

RR have arguable handled Sanju Samson's departure in the best way possible as they repaired one of their fundamental flaws before heading into the auction. The restructed Indian-centric batting unit now has the room to push the likes of Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel up the order, and leave the finishing tasks to explosive overseas players like Shimron Hetmyer, Sam Curran, and Donvan Ferreira.

Ravi Bishnoi's acqusition for INR 7.2 crore is arguably a game changer as RR return back to their two Indian spinner combination after the failed experiement with Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.

The biggest drawback that they face is the lack of a proper, genuine, Indian seam bowler. As things stand, their primary options are Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma, both of whom had a poor campaign last season. While other names like Yudhvir Singh Charak and Kuldeep Sen do not have much experience.

But that area of concern can be subdued if they have both Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger fit and in the playing XI.

#7 Gujarat Titans

GT are banking on their unsustainable model once again in the IPL 2026, hoping for the top three to score the majority of the runs as they have made no attempts to bolster their middle order. Parting ways with Sherfane Rutherford, GT are entrusting Washington Sundar and Shahrukh Khan to be the backbone in the middle order.

They spent the bulk of their budget on Jason Holder, who could be a key part in their powerplay and death bowling plans. However, to include him in the playing XI, GT will have to leave Glenn Phillips on the bench, which onlhy weakens the already vulnerable middle order.

#8 Delhi Capitals

While both Pathum Nissanka and Ben Duckett are shrewd buys, realistically, they can play only one of them. There is still a massive question mark regarding the early middle order slots, as Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, and Nitish Rana have not exactly been consistent in the IPL over the last few years to be assured choices for such important roles.

With that being side, DC do have a formidable lower middle order with the quartet of Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, David Miller, and Ashutosh Sharma promising some serious firepower.

The bowling attack is a bit of a mixed bag for DC, mostly the pace bowling unit. Mitchell Starc tends to be a little inconsistent in the IPL, and that is not a pattern you would want in a spearhead. If the veteran is not at his best, DC do not have enough resources to cover for him.

Spin bowling remains DC's biggest strength with the trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Vipraj Nigam and Axar Patel. But when it comes to an off-spinner, they ony have Tristan Stubbs' and Nitish Rana's part-time spin to rely on.

#9 Lucknow Super Giants

While LSG have fixed the majority of the mistakes they made during the mega auction, the end result remains uncertain. They do have a squad that has potential if it all comes together, but the issue at hand is the fact that the odds of everything coming to perfection with such a combination are unlikely. Largely because of how there are so many unknown volatile factors in the setup without assurance.

LSG had an injury prone pace attack last season, and their latest addition to that department is another injury prone candidate in Anrich Nortje. Wanindu Hasaranga is another shrewd acquisition, but his availability and impact in the IPL has been a massive question mark in recent seasons.

An inexperienced finishing unit is another concern that lines up for LSG, especially after David Miller's release. The franchise went all out for Liam Livingstone towards the end of the auction to address this area of concern, but could not compete with the Sunrisers Hyderabad's purse.

Given that they have a overseas heavy batting unit, with the entire top order comprising foreign players, they can only field one of Wanindu Hasaranga and Anrich Nortje. Their Indian bowling setup will have to be at their absolute best and injury free to back their explosive batters.

#10 Sunrisers Hyderabad

From runner-ups in IPL 2024 to remaining in the bottom half of the table for the majority of IPL 2025, SRH have had a fall from grace, largely due to their own doing. Having had to retain the majority of their explosive squad for the mega auction, SRH had to compromise with balance and prowess in their bowling unit.

While they still have a very capable and dangerous batting unit, they still do not have the bowling to back it up. While they managed to offload Mohammad Shami to LSG in an all-cash deal, all of it went in bringing Liam Livingstone in while there were other priorities to address.

The bowling unit lacks credible options, something that SRH will need considering Pat Cummins will play the IPL season after recovering from a major injury, and also after the Ashes and the T20 World Cup campaign. Inexperience in the spin department, and lack of proven Indian bowlers are some of the other plaguing issues that make SRH an incoherent side.

Edited by Gokul Nair