India, Dec. 14 -- The IPL 2026 mini-auction is just a couple of days away. There will be interest as to the players who can cross the 10cr barrier during the event. Now, a mini-auction does not reward volume; it rewards scarcity. With 359 shortlisted players chasing only 77 open slots, most names are walking into Abu Dhabi already fighting the arithmetic.

That same squeeze is why the INR 10-cr club stays small this year. The room simply does not have enough must-win targets, and not enough teams with the purse flexibility for 10 to 12 players to blow past the eight figures.

This year, it is cold maths more than hype: 359 players, 77 slots (46 Indians, 31 overseas). That is about 4.7 or 5 players competing per slot, and a player's chance...