IPL 2027 players' auction to be held in Goa in December
The IPL 2027 players' auction will be held in Goa in December, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed on Wednesday. The announcement returns the auction to India after it was staged overseas for the past three editions.
The auction has taken place in Dubai, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi over the last three years, with the 2025 mega auction held in Jeddah, Dubai hosting the 2024 auction and Abu Dhabi staging the 2026 event. With Goa confirmed as the venue, the IPL auction will return to India for the first time since 2023. "This year, after hosting the IPL auction in three foreign locations, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi last year, we are going to host it in Goa in the month of December," Saikia told ANI.
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had previously said the BCCI was keen to hold the auction in India but had encountered difficulties securing a venue because of the busy wedding season. "Every year we try for this to happen in India, but we don't get the venue given the heavy marriage season. So, we definitely want it to be here this year, given that it would be a smaller auction and hopefully we will get the venue," Dhumal had told PTI.
The BCCI is also seeking fresh feedback from IPL franchises on the Impact Player rule after it was discussed at a recent Governing Council meeting. The strategic substitution rule allows teams to bring in a replacement at any stage of a match and is currently scheduled to remain in place until 2027.
The Impact Player rule has attracted criticism from several prominent players, with complaints voiced by India ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill, former captain Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel. One of the main concerns raised by players is that the rule reduces the importance of genuine all-rounders.
The issue resurfaced ahead of IPL 2026 when several captains conveyed reservations to the BCCI and calls for the rule to be scrapped gained momentum. Dhumal said the board was open to reviewing the rule after consulting all stakeholders. "The matter is under discussion. Will take feedback from all the stakeholders and then take a call on this," he had said.
The confirmed next steps are the Goa auction in December and a stakeholder consultation on the Impact Player rule, after which the BCCI has said it will make a decision.
