India, Dec. 16 -- The IPL 2026 mini-auction has a twist to it: an overseas player can trigger a bidding war that races past INR 18 cr, but his pay cheque still hits a hard ceiling.

The franchises may push the bidding of an overseas player past that mark, yet the contract value will not rise beyond INR 18 cr.

The IPL's 'maximum fee' rule for overseas player caps their auction earnings at the lower of:

1. the highest retention price (top slab: INR 18 cr), and

2. the highest winning bid at the previous mega auction

For this cycle, the top retention slab is INR 18 crore, while the previous mega-auction peak was Rishabh Pant's INR 27 cr (LSG). So, the lower of the two becomes INR 18 crore. That's why overseas players can't be paid beyond ...