The fever pitch surrounding the IPL Auction 2026, especially concerning Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, is amplified by a new and controversial rule enforced by the BCCI that places a strict ceiling on the take-home salary of overseas players.
This regulation effectively explains why a player of Green’s calibre—who is expected to trigger a furious bidding war—cannot receive more than ₹18 crore, regardless of how high the bidding paddles ultimately rise.
The rule, which has stunned and divided fans and critics alike, dictates that the maximum fee payable to any overseas cricketer in the mini-auction is capped at the highest retention slab from the previous mega-auction, which stands at ₹18 crore.
In a practical scenario, should the bidding for Cameron Green—a highly valued commodity due to his rare combination of pace bowling, power-hitting, and youth—shoot past the ₹18 crore mark to, say, ₹25 crore, the franchise that wins the bid must still pay the full ₹25 crore, which is deducted entirely from its salary cap purse.
However, Green himself will only be paid ₹18 crore, and the remaining amount—in this example, ₹7 crore—will be diverted to the BCCI’s player welfare fund.
This mechanism, which was also partially in effect during the previous mega-auction, is explicitly designed to prioritise Indian players and enforce a degree of financial discipline by preventing the astronomical inflation of overseas player wages, a trend often seen in mini-auctions driven by limited supply and high demand for specialised skills.
Many overseas players previously elected to skip mega-auctions and enter the following mini-auction, where the supply-demand gap often led to inflated prices, and this new cap is the board’s direct response to that perceived loophole.
The stunning part for fans is the evident disparity: while the franchise is penalized for the high bid by having its purse reduced by the full amount,
Cameron Green, who was previously bought for ₹17.5 crore in a mini-auction and is arguably worth even more given his continued rise, is the focal point of this debate, as teams like Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with large purses are expected to push his price well into the excess-money zone.
The rule ensures that while the bidding drama may still be explosive, the final financial reward for the overseas star is fixed, creating a ceiling that forces teams to weigh the tactical value of overbidding against a limited financial return for the player, thereby significantly altering the strategic dynamics of the IPL auction.
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