IPL 2026 Mini Auction: Worst Buys of IPL 2026, From Josh Inglis to Liam Livingstone

The IPL auctions have always been full of surprises. At times, the top stars fail to get any Bids, and on the other side, unknown players pick up deals worth crores in the IPL 2026 mini auction. This is also the richest cricket tournament in the world. Another thing which also happens at the time of the auction, especially the mini auction, is the teams exceeding the budget on some players who do not contribute much to the squad.

RCB Overpays Venkatesh Iyer ₹7Cr, LSG Buys Josh Inglis ₹8.6Cr for 4 Matches, KKR Pays Mustafizur Rahman ₹9.2Cr

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Josh Inglis WK-Batsman

Josh Inglis is a 30-year-old, English-born Australian wicketkeeper-batsman who plays for the Australian national team and Western Australia in domestic cricket.

Our resources keep a tab on the players who exorbitant pricing at the IPL auction 2026, which somehow with the value they can deliver to their respective teams. RCB has gone ahead and splurged on Venkatesh Iyer big time.

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Venkatesh Iyer Batting Allrounder

Venkatesh Iyer is an Indian cricketer and a left-handed batting all-rounder, born on December 25, 1994, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

The fact that he received 70% less than last year’s offer from KKR might be relevant, but he still receives a substantially high price tag. Now, come to think of it, how exactly might he find a place in the playing eleven? He is no longer bothered to bowl in IPL, his last wicket in IPL 2021, and his batting performance in SMAT hasn’t exactly been impressive either. Of course, he is an incredibly gifted player. When he is on form, he has the ability to turn matches on their head.

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Matheesha Pathirana Bowler

Matheesha Pathirana is a Sri Lankan cricketer who was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka on December 18, 2002.

Injury-Prone Matheesha Pathirana ₹18Cr

Matheesha Pathirana is the Sri Lankan pacer who has imitated the action of Lasith Malinga. He is known to be an injury-prone bowler. If that is no problem, then his economy rate in the previous season of the IPL is over 10. This year, the number of games that he has played for his nation is only two, where he took one wicket while maintaining an average of 82.

At the IPL auction 2026, the purse value of CSK was 43.40 Cr. Out of it, more than 28 Cr went to two uncapped Indians are Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma. Don’t ask what they do or how they do it, but the money they are charging is marvellous. You can change probable XI to get them in the Squad.

Even before the auction started, it was well-known that Aussie keeper Batter Josh Inglis would be up for grabs for only 4 games, and yet. Lucknow Super Giants went ahead and got him for 8.6 Cr. And if you overlook that, then Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran are two very fine keeper-batters.

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Liam Livingstone All-Rounder

Liam Livingstone, a right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break and legbreak bowler, has made his international debut for England.

What about that? Forget all of the above, too. Your four foreigners will be Marsh, Pooran, Aiden Markram, and Hasaranga/Wanindu Nortje. Now, how are you going to get him to even feature? 13Cr for Livingstone. SRH, now, how are you going to accommodate the English all-rounder? Well, if he is your fourth import, the only role he plays is as a finisher, and even then, he might not complete his overs.

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Mustafizur Rahman Bowler

Mustafizur Rahman is a wily left-arm pacer that foxes batters with his ever growing arsenal of slower deliveries and cutters.

Such a player could be used to fill any gaps when required. However, the Bangladeshi players will receive conditional NOCs from the BCB. Mustafizur Rahman was picked up by KKR for 9.20 Cr, and playing permission for IPL will depend on his fulfilling his national obligation as well. Bangladesh have a limited-overs series against New Zealand in April-May 2026, which clashes with the IPL.

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