IPL 2026 Auction: Pathirana goes to KKR for Rs 18 crore, RCB gets a steal deal in Duffy, Bishnoi heads to RR

Abu Dhabi [UAE], December 16 : Sri Lanka speedster Matheesha Pathirana was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping Rs 18 crore during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction on Tuesday.
Delhi Capitals (DC) opened the bidding for Sri Lankan speedster, and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) joined the fray.
Bidding intensified between LSG and DC as Pathirana's bid rose to Rs 10.4 crore. When the bid stood at Rs 15.8 crore, KKR came in at Rs 16 crore, quickly raised it to Rs 18 crore, and ultimately stole the deal.
Pathirana has picked up 31 wickets in 21 T20Is at an average of 18.25, with two four-fers. The right-arm speedster has taken 133 wickets in 100 T20s at an average of 21.40. In IPL, Pathirana scalped 47 wickets for Chennai Super Kings in 32 matches at an average of over 21. In the 2025 season, in 13 games, he scalped 12 wickets.
Indian leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, whose base price was Rs 2 crore, was sold to Rajasthan Royals (RR) for a whopping price of Rs 7.4 crore.
It was an intense bid for Bishnoi, with CSK, RR, and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bidding for the leg-spinner. But Bishnoi went to the Royals. Bishnoi has picked up 61 T20I wickets in 42 matches at an average of 19.37, with two four-fers.
In a steal pick, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) purchased New Zealand speedster Jacob Duffy for Rs 2 crore.
The New Zealand speedster is having a dream year with 35 wickets in 21 matches at an average of over 15, three four-fers this year in T20Is.
He is the leading wicket-taker in international cricket in 2025 with 72 wickets in 35 matches at an average of above 17, with three four-fers and two five-fors. Duffy has scalped 178 wickets in 156 T20s at an average of ocer 24 with two five-fors and seven four-fers.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction was off to a fantastic start as Australian all-rounder Cameron Green was sold to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 25.20 crores, becoming the third-most expensive player in the league's history and the most expensive overseas player in the competition's history at Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Initially, Rajasthan Royals and KKR entered an intense bidding war, with the Royals opting out at around Rs 13 crores and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which entered the bidding, taking the price way beyond Rs 20 crores. CSK bid Rs 25 crores, and KKR followed it with a 25.20 crores bid and won the war.
Green has scored 521 runs in 21 T20Is matches at an average of 32.56, SR of 160.30, with six fifties and has 12 wickets averaging 23.35. He has scored 1,334 runs in 63 T20S at an average of 33.35, SR of 151.07, with a century and seven fifties and taken 28 wickets averaging above 34.
The young Aussie all-rounder featured in the 2023 and 2024 IPL seasons with the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), scoring 707 runs in 29 matches at an average of 41.58, with an SR of 153-plus, a century and two fifties and took 16 wickets at an average of above 41.5. But he did not participate in last season's auction due to injury.