IPL 2026: R Ashwin predicts costliest buys of upcoming Mini-Auction

Several decorated teams finished in the bottom half of the points table in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Multiple-time champions like Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) finished tenth and eighth, respectively. According to experts, these two teams could be planning to overhaul their squads ahead of IPL 2026.

Legendary former India off-spinner and CSK stalwart Ravichandran Ashwin - who is himself in the limelight as far as the IPL trade window speculations are concerned - has made his picks for the costliest buys of the IPL 2026 mini-auction.

Ashwin predicted that overseas players would garner huge bids at the mini-auction, while established Indian players might be tough to acquire.

"This will be a mini auction where you'll find it tough to get Indian players. Maybe only new players will come. The costly picks will be overseas players," Ashwin said, speaking on his Hindi YouTube channel 'Ash ki Baat'.

"A franchise releasing a big Indian player is a very risky formula. So many Australian players will come in the auction," Ashwin stated.

In particular, Ashwin pointed out two Australian cricketers who could feature among the most expensive picks in the mini-auction. Mitchell Owen and Cameron Green were the names picked by the 38-year-old.

"You've got Mitchell Owen, who was a replacement player for three games for Punjab Kings. Then you've got someone like Cameron Green coming into the auction. They'll go at a big price because they are foreign all-rounders. The mini-auction will be a game of Rs 25-30 crore for all teams," Ashwin opined.

Green couldn't enter the IPL 2025 mega-auction after sustaining a lower-spine fracture during the white-ball tour of England in September 2024. On the other hand, Owen went unsold in the mega-auction, but he was later picked by the Punjab Kings as an injury replacement for Glenn Maxwell. The right-handed batter played just one game in which he scored a two-ball duck. Both Owen and Green are playing in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa.

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Ashwin also reckoned that Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) speedster Mayank Yadav could be among the sought-after Indian players who will enter the auction. Mayank was retained for INR 11 crore by the Lucknow-based franchise, but frequent injuries meant that he could play only four games in the season.