IPL schedules 2027 mini-auction for December 16 in Goa; retention lists due November 15, 2026

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has fixed the IPL 2027 mini-auction for December 16, 2026, to be held in Goa, and set November 15, 2026 as the deadline for franchises to submit their player retention lists.

The auction will be conducted as a one-day event nearly a month after the retention cutoff, and the December 16 date coincides with the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After the November 15 deadline, teams will receive the pool of registered players and must shortlist those they wish to consider for the auction. Franchises have already begun planning retention and release decisions to shape budgets and plug squad gaps ahead of the auction. The IPL has not yet announced the start date for the 2027 season.

The trade window has been active since the end of IPL 2026, producing two multi-player deals: Rishabh Pant returned to Delhi Capitals from Lucknow Super Giants while Kuldeep Yadav moved to Lucknow Super Giants, and in a separate move T Natarajan returned to Sunrisers Hyderabad with Zeeshan Ansari joining Delhi Capitals. Teams can continue to execute trades up to one week before the auction, allowing further roster adjustments prior to the December event.

This December auction will be the final mini-auction before the competition moves to a mega-auction ahead of the 2028 season. The IPL 2027 mini-auction marks the tournament’s return to India for an auction event; the three most recent auctions were staged overseas — Dubai for the 2024 auction, Jeddah for the 2025 mega-auction and Abu Dhabi for the 2026 mini-auction.

The India–Sri Lanka calendar around the auction includes a three-match T20I series scheduled from December 22 to December 27, 2026, following the second ODI clash on December 16. The overlap between international fixtures and the IPL auction will intersect for players and administrators involved in both events.

With retention lists due on November 15, 2026 and the mini-auction set for December 16 in Goa, franchises must finalise their retained squads and trade activity within the prescribed windows to prepare for the last mini-auction before the 2028 mega-auction.