Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting has approved the late arrival Marco Jansen for the IPL considering that the South African all-rounder was among the last batch of players who departed late from India following the T20 World Cup due to logistical issues. South Africa and West Indies players were stuck in India for more than a week after concluding their World Cup campaigns. Some of them, including West Indies head coach Daren Sammy and Proteas batter David Miller, also vented out their frustration over the delay in their departure from India due to restricted operations of major airports like Dubai and Abu Dhabi amid the West Asia conflict. Jansen, a key member of the PBKS unit, will join the squad on March 26. Ponting and majority of foreign players are set to link up with the team on March 21. Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai will join the team on March 23 from Kabul. His country is currently involved in a conflict with Pakistan. In their first year with PBKS, the .

Despite the IPL 2025 setback, the team will aim to build on that success and go one step further this season under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer.

The first block of IPL 2026 fixtures will be played across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad

While the start date has been confirmed, the full schedule and venues for the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League is expected to be released soon

The accelerated rounds featured further big purchases, including Pathum Nissanka, Jason Holder, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone and Josh Inglis.

KKR will walk into the IPL 2026 players auction with the biggest purse, while five-time champions MI will have the smallest purse

PL 2026 mini auction: Cameron Green tops the list at Rs 25.20 cr. Check top 20 costliest buys, including Pathirana, Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer, with teams and prices.

Punjab's first pick came in the accelerated round, where they secured Australian batting all-rounder Cooper Connolly for ₹3 crore.

Under the IPL's maximum-fee rule, an overseas player's auction fee is capped at the lower of the highest retention slab and the highest price fetched at the previous mega auction.

The IPL 2026 Auction is scheduled to begin on December 16 (Tuesday), 2025. The IPL mini auction 2026 will begin at 2:30 PM IST.

On December 16, IPL 2026 auction is scheduled to start at 2:30 PM IST in Abu Dhabi. All the ten IPL franchisees are set to spent around Rs 237.55 crore to fill up 77 available slots.

IPL 2026's retention list is defined by three themes: the blockbuster Jadeja-Samson-Curran swap, the release of several global stars, and franchises making sharp value

One of the more surprising decisions is the retention of New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson.

Since this is not a mega auction, franchises have the freedom to retain or release as many players as they wish.

IPL 2026 retention rules allow franchises to retain an unlimited number of players, with no cap on the number of capped Indian players, overseas players, or uncapped players they can keep

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One of India's most respected spin coaches, Bahutule has worked with multiple state and franchise teams, including Bengal, Kerala, Vidarbha, and Gujarat

Reports suggest that Devon Conway, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi, and Sam Curran may find themselves on CSK's release list

Arya credits much of his growth to learning under PBKS coach Ricky Ponting. Though his place in the playing XI wasn't guaranteed at first, consistent runs in practice games secured his spot.

Having impressed one and all with his free-flowing and fearless approach in the IPL, young Delhi batter Priyansh Arya is now determined to translate his white ball form into traditional format becoming a red ball regular for Delhi in the upcoming Ranji season. The young Delhi batter, who shot to fame through the Delhi Premier League, believes it's time to evolve beyond the shortest format. "After DPL, I will start preparation for red-ball cricket. Last year as well, I spoke about that I want to play that form of cricket," Arya told PTI videos on the sidelines of Outer Delhi Warriors jersey launch event in New Delhi. "I will seek advice from my coach Sanjay sir (Bhardwaj) and prepare accordingly. I hope I would be able to make my red ball debut and not just remain a white-ball specialist next season, he added. Much of Arya's growth can be attributed to his constant desire to improve. And for that, he continues to rely on his childhood coach Bhardwaj, who incidentally also used to be