Salary cap for foreign players in IPL mini auctions? Explaining how Indian players' auction prices will determine overseas stars' price

Overseas stars have historically made a lot of money from the IPL, from Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins getting a whopping 20+ crores to someone like Glenn Maxwell always being their amongst the highest earners. 

This is especially true during IPL mini auctions where a supply-demand imbalance creates huge bids on star foreigners. 

Meanwhile, someone like Jasprit Bumrah only earned 12 crores from his recent retentions, which has been pointed out by many experts and pundits.

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The IPL governing council seems to have made an effort to ensure that overseas players don't earn more than the domestic stars from the IPL.

What is the rule that prevents overseas players from earning more than Indian players?

According to the latest announcements from BCCI, the salary cap of overseas players in the mini auctions (set to be held in 2026 and 2027) will be determined by how much the highest Indian player earns from the previous year's auction.

No overseas star can surpass the bid on the highest-earning Indian player from the previous year's auction. The cap will be the lesser amount of the highest bid an Indian player receives and the highest retention amount for an Indian player.

Any money over the Indian that is being bid on a foreigner will be going to BCCI's player welfare fund.

How does this rule work?

For instance, let us consider that Virat Kohli was retained for INR 18 crores in IPL 2025. And Ishan Kishan was sold for INR 15 crores in the IPL 2025 auction. 

So, for the 2026 mini auction, the cap for overseas players' salary will be the lesser amount of INR 15 crores and INR 18 crores, ie, INR 15 crores.

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No foreign star will be able to earn more than INR 15 crores in this case. If someone like Starc has already been bought by SRH (for eg.), for INR 20 crores, then the difference i.e., 5 crores will be going to BCCI's players' welfare fund.