IPL 2026 Auction: Jonny Bairstow to Mayank Agarwal - Best Playing 11 of Unsold Players

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The IPL 2026 auction left a pool of talented capped and uncapped players unsold, including high-profile names like Devon Conway, Jonny Bairstow, and Maheesh Theekshana - as a total of 292 players found no bidders for them.

The auction saw franchises prioritize versatility, specialist roles, and youthful potential amid intense bidding wars. Kolkata Knight Riders shattered records by acquiring Australian all-rounder Cameron Green for ₹25.20 crore, the highest ever for an overseas player. They followed with Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana for ₹18 crore, a national benchmark underscoring death-over expertise.

Chennai Super Kings championed emerging talent, securing 20-year-old spinning all-rounder Prashant Veer and 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Kartik Sharma for ₹14.20 crore each, redefining uncapped records.

Overseas slots are optimised at four, and the IPL 2026 auction saw the teams complete their quota of 8 players in the squad, barring one, as Lucknow Super Giants went with 7 foreigners.

Devising the best XI with unsold players starts with a rock-solid opening pair of Devon Conway and Mayank Agarwal, where Conway's anchoring technique complements Agarwal's explosive strokeplay to set aggressive platforms.

Jonny Bairstow slots in at number three for his ability to dominate spin and accelerate, backed by Steve Smith as a middle-order batter. Deepak Hooda, brings all-round utility in the middle order, supported by Wiaan Mulder's seam-bowling contributions. Jamie Smith is another player who had high stakes coming into the auction, but had no bidders.

IPL 2026 Unsold Playing XI

Devon Conway, Mayank Agarwal, Jonny Bairstow, Steve Smith, Deepak Hooda, Jamie Smith, Gerald Coetzee, Umesh Yadav, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Maheesh Theekshana, Karn Sharma

Impact Player: Mujeeb Ur Rahman