The IPL 2026 auction on Tuesday saw an incredible turn of fortunes when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the bid war with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to take the services of India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru triumphed in a bidding frenzy that was on the edge. Even as it was one of the star buys in the past mega auction, Iyer was auctioned at 7 crore this year, a steep fall of 71 per cent compared to the 23.75 crore in Jeddah auction last year.
Venkatesh was bided at a slow pace, with some little time spent in which it seemed possible that the all-rounder will not be sold. Lucknow Super Giants later won the bidding followed by a brief interference by Gujarat Titans. Both franchises were however forced out in near future as RCB and KKR were involved in a cut throat battle. Eventually, the incumbent champions RCB triumphed and they purchased the Madhya Pradesh all-rounder at an extremely low cost.
Venkatesh had earlier in the day sent a knock that was imposing in franchisees who had already excelled in domestic cricket. As a representative of Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he made a fluent 70 off 43 against Punjab, which reflects his power-hitting skills. Though, his input on the ball was not so good as he yielded 12 runs in the sole over that he bowled.
The second mini auction of the IPL 2026, where there were capped all-rounders, was not very active. The only other player who was bought was Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka who was bought by Lucknow Super Giants at 2 crore which was his base price. Among a few big names, such as Wiaan Mulder, Liam Livingston, Rachlin Ravindra and Gus Atkinson, were not sold.
Selective purchases were also witnessed in the third set which was composed of capped wicketkeepers. KKR signed Finn Allen of New Zealand and Delhi Capitals signed England Ben Duckett in 2 crore.
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