IPL 2026 has already moved past the halfway mark, with 50 matches staged so far, yet squads across the league have repeatedly been disrupted by one recurring issue: players missing time at various stages of the tournament. A large number of cricketers have been sidelined due to injuries, last-minute withdrawals, or other unavailability. When the amounts these players earned at the IPL 2026 auction are added up, the combined figure reaches a staggering Rs 57.6 crore. To put that into perspective, Kolkata Knight Riders entered this year’s auction with the biggest purse in the competition—Rs 64.30 crore.
The 2024 champions have not been immune to the problem either, with two notable absences affecting their campaign. Harshit Rana, contracted for Rs 4 crore, was ruled out after undergoing knee ligament surgery. Matheesha Pathirana, valued at Rs 18 crore, has meanwhile failed to feature in a single match so far, with concerns over his fitness keeping him out.
For Rajasthan Royals, the setback was even more significant with the unavailability of England all-rounder Sam Curran. The franchise had received a major boost through a high-profile trade from CSK, but Curran was ruled out shortly after the move. Even CSK have felt the impact of missing several key members, including pace options Khaleel Ahmed and Nathan Ellis, along with promising young batter Ayush Mhatre—factors that have constrained their squad balance well into the tournament.
Mumbai Indians have also experienced their share of disruptions. Rohit Sharma has missed a number of matches because of injury concerns, while Will Jacks has only begun playing for the side in the last couple of games. New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner has also been ruled out for the remainder of the competition after sustaining a shoulder injury.
Availability of Australian players has been another storyline in IPL 2026, with some arriving late and others missing early fixtures. Mitchell Starc joined Delhi Capitals after several matches had already been played, and Josh Hazlewood sat out a portion of the initial phase for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. There has also been a clear workload approach around Cameron Green, with his bowling limited as part of management decisions by Cricket Australia.
Complete list of players who have missed IPL 2026 till now:
- Matheesha Pathirana: Rs 18 crore
- Mustafizur Rahman: Rs 9.2 crore
- Khaleel Ahmed: Rs 4.8 crore
- Harshit Rana: Rs 4 crore
- Jack Edwards: Rs 3 crore
- Sam Curran: Rs 2.4 crore
- Nathan Ellis: Rs 2 crore
- Wanindu Hasaranga: Rs 2 crore
- Tom Banton: Rs 2 crore
- Mitchell Santner: Rs 2 crore
- Ben Duckett: Rs 2 crore
- Matthew Short: Rs 1.5 crore
- David Payne: Rs 1.5 crore
- Akash Deep: Rs 1 crore
- Brydon Carse: Rs 1 crore
- Atharva Ankolekar: Rs 30 lakh
- Prithviraj Yarra: Rs 30 lakh
- Ayush Mhatre: Rs 30 lakh
- Ramakrishna Ghosh: Rs 30 lakh
In addition to injuries, there have also been a couple of players who were absent for reasons unrelated to cricket fitness. Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was acquired by KKR for Rs 9.2 crore at the auction, but was later released by the franchise amid strained political ties between India and Bangladesh. Separately, England batter Ben Duckett chose to step away from IPL 2026 to focus on Test cricket, which meant he did not end up playing for Delhi Capitals.
