Former India spinner picks top 4 teams for IPL 2026 after auction, leaves out CSK

The legendary Ravichandran Ashwin picked his top four teams ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Interestingly, he left out his former team and five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The 10 franchises finalised their squads after the IPL 2026 mini-auction on Tuesday, December 16, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. While the trading window will remain open till the start of the season, it is unlikely that teams will make changes at this stage.

Ashwin picked the five-time champions, Mumbai Indians (MI), as his first choice. The Hardik Pandya-led side retained its core after last month's retention window and traded for Sherfane Rutherford (from GT), Mayank Markande (from KKR), and Shardul Thakur (from LSG). They had the lowest purse at the auction but still managed to sign Quinton de Kock, alongside other domestic talents.

As his second pick, Ashwin went for defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who also retained their core group of players ahead of the auction. Venkatesh Iyer turned out to be the star signing for RCB as he joined for INR 7 crore. Jacob Duffy was another high-profile signing as RCB got a solid backup for Josh Hazlewood.

Punjab Kings, who finished runners-up last season, and inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals are the other contenders for the title, as picked by Ashwin. Shreyas Iyer and Co. had almost all bases covered and decided to acquire the services of the Australian duo of Cooper Connolly and Ben Dwarshuis.

Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, had already traded Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja into their line-up in place of Sanju Samson last month. During the auction, their star signing was Ravi Bishnoi, who earned a contract worth INR 7.2 crore. Adam Milne also joined the setup alongside six other uncapped players.

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Barring RR, the other three teams mentioned by Ashwin reached the playoffs last year. He made the picks during an interaction on MI's Instagram handle. He lauded the franchise for bolstering its team despite having a paltry budget of INR 2.75 crore.