De Kock makes a surprise return as BCCI prunes auction register to 350

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction will feature 350 players.

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The BCCI has pruned the auction register to 350 players, which include 35 new names [BCCI]

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has arrived at this number after extensive consultations with the franchises. The auction will be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16.A total of 1390 players registered for the Player Auction, out of which 350 players were shortlisted; 240 Indian and 110 are overseas recruits. The pool comprises 224 uncapped Indian players and 14 uncapped overseas players. The pruned final list includes 35 new names that were not part of the initial spreadsheet and one surprise entry among them is Quinton de Kock.

The South African wicketkeeper-batter had not figured in the original list, but his name was added later, evidently at the recommendation of a franchise. He is in the third lot that is for wicket-keeper/batters.

De Kock's (33) change of heart is not hard to understand. Having recently come out of international retirement, he smashed a century in the third and final ODI against India in Visakhapatnam the other day. His base price is INR 1 crore a 50 percent drop from the previous mega auction, when he was picked up by the Knight Riders for the floor price of INR 2 crore.