Prithvi Shaw is going to take the big stage one more time as he has been included in the list of players for the IPL 2026 auction, which will be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16th. The list has been released and the players are from different franchises.
Shaw, who was not picked in the auction last year and experienced one of the most difficult times in his career, is trying to make a huge comeback. He has performed really well in the domestic circuit representing Maharashtra. He has set his base price at ₹75 lakhs and is even planning to return to the IPL with a full-fledged effort.
Prithvi Shaw 26, and his performance in the Ranji Trophy season has been truly outstanding with him scoring 470 runs including a fantastic 72-ball double century against Chandigarh.
In the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy too, Prithvi Shaw led the Maharashtra team and during the tournament, he played a quick 23-ball fifty thus demonstrating that he has not lost his power-hitting skills.
This favorable change comes after Shaw had a tough year. He went through a whole year of fitness struggles and discipline issues. He was even dropped from the Mumbai Ranji team in the middle of the 2024 season and he was also not picked in the IPL 2025 auction – this was how bad the situation was.
Prithvi Shaw’s IPL career
Prithvi Shaw, once considered as one of the most promising young talents in India, has not been part of the national team since 2021. After moving to Maharashtra, he has gradually redefined his game and built up his confidence. Now, he is waiting for an IPL team to show an interest in him so that he can have a fresh start.
His last appearance in the IPL was for Delhi Capitals during the 2024 season when he played in eight matches. The boy from Mumbai had made his IPL debut with Delhi Capitals in 2018, and since then, he has played 79 matches and scored 1892 runs at an impressive strike rate of 147.46 with 14 half Centuries
350 players are going to fight for the 77 spots in the IPL 2026 Auction
The IPL 2026 auction is set to be a grand total of 350 players, 240 Indians and 110 overseas, who will be going through the auction on December 16, and competing only for 77 slots available in 10 franchises. Among them will be the big names of the international cricket such as Quinton de Kock, the wicketkeeper batter from South Africa, who is listed for the auction with a base price of ₹1 crore.
Steve Smith, the biggest name of Australia’s batting who has not played IPL since 2021, has also made a comeback with a new base price of ₹2 crore. Initially, 1,390 players showed interest in the auction, which was subsequently narrowed down first to 1,005 and finally to only 350, who are now the bidding warriors.
Cameron Green, Steve Smith and David Miller in ₹2 Crore Reign
Australia’s Cameron Green and Jake Fraser-McGurk, Smith, New Zealand’s Devon Conway, and South Africa’s David Miller are all included in the sphere of topmost base price in the amount of ₹2 crore. The user “Venkatesh Iyer” has also set himself up in that ₹2 crore range after being released by KKR.
Among all teams, KKR stands out as the team with the most substantial amount of ₹64.3 crore entering the IPL 2026 auction, as they have let go of a considerable number of players. The amount of ₹43.4 crore will be with CSK, who is in the second position, whereas SRH will be holding the third-largest amount of ₹25.5 crore.