Bhubaneswar: In a significant development for cricket in Odisha, two players from the state – Swastik Samal and Rajesh Mohanty – have been included in the final list for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction.
The IPL 2026 mini-auction is set to commence on Tuesday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, starting at 2.30 pm, when franchises will vie to fill 77 available slots across their squads.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a last-minute addition of 19 players to the auction roster on Monday, bringing the total number of participants to 369. Both Samal and Mohanty, who feature among these late inclusions, have been assigned a base price of Rs 30 lakh each.
With this, the duo joins a select group of domestic cricketers added in this final phase, highlighting emerging talent from various state associations. This inclusion comes as a major encouragement for Odisha cricket, which has been steadily producing promising players in recent domestic seasons.
Samal is a right-handed batsman while Mohanty is a pace bowler. Samal captained Cuttack Panthers, which won the inaugural Odisha Pro T20 League 2025. Mohanty, on the other hand, spent two months as a net bowler with Chennai Super Kings during IPL 2021, and led Odisha in two matches of the CK Nayudu Trophy U-25 Tournament in 2022.
Fans in Odisha will be closely watching the proceedings, hopeful that Samal and Mohanty attract strong bids from the ten IPL teams.
.
