Shrey, Iyer will be present at the auction table of Punjab KingsImage Credit source: PTI
There will be a gathering of IPL executives at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on 16th December. There will be an opportunity to auction players for the IPL 2026 season. After the mega auction of last season, this time there is going to be a mini auction. Everyone has been waiting for this day for many weeks and this time Shreyas Iyer is going to make the auction even more special. Punjab Kings captain Iyer can be seen sitting at the auction table this time.
A report in Cricbuzz has revealed that Iyer, who is currently out of Team India due to injury, can be seen in Abu Dhabi for the auction this time. Iyer has never participated in the auction as captain of any team before. But this time it can happen because one, he is currently away from international cricket and second, Punjab Kings have to enter the auction without their coach.
Yes, a big reason for Iyer’s participation in the auction is Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting, who will not be able to participate in the auction. Actually, Ponting is currently a part of the commentary panel of the ongoing Ashes series between Australia and England. He is associated with the series broadcaster 7 Cricket and hence he will not participate in this auction. However, the other aspect of this is that Punjab has to buy only 4 players in the auction and in such a situation, Ponting has been exempted from this auction.
Iyer has been away from cricket action for the last one and a half month. He got injured while catching during the ODI series on Australia tour. There was an injury to his rib, due to which bleeding started inside the body. After this, he had surgery there and since then he is going through the recovery-rehabilitation process. He is expected to return from the ODI series against New Zealand in January 2026.
However, this will not be the first time when a captain will be a part of the auction table. Even before this, it has been seen on some occasions, when a captain or an important player of the team has been a part of the auction. The most recent scene was seen during the auction of the 2024 season, when Rishabh Pant, who was out of action for the entire season due to an accident, was seen at the auction table with his old team Delhi Capitals.