Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had a blockbuster outing at the IPL 2026 mini-auction on 16 December. It started with the biggest purse and ended with a complete squad. They had ₹64.30 crore in their purse and finished with only ₹45 lakh left.

KKR, owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, became the first franchise to fill all 25 slots. It grabbed attention with two headline overseas signings.

The franchise’s main focus was to find a like-for-like replacement for Andre Russell, who has now moved into a coaching role in the team. KKR also had to strengthen its death bowling.

That plan was clear in their record buys. KKR signed Cameron Green for ₹25.20 crore. The Australian all-rounder became the most expensive overseas player in IPL history. KKR beat their own record of buying Mitchell Starc for ₹24.75 crore.

KKR followed it up by picking Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana for ₹18 crore. It was the highest-ever auction price for a Sri Lankan player. They also bought a veteran left-handed pacer from Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman, for ₹9.20 crore.

Kolkata also bought Tejasvi Singh for ₹3 crore. The 23-year-old Delhi boy became KKR’s third wicketkeeper-batter, along with Finn Allen and Tim Seifert ( ₹1.50 crore).

KKR added Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra and Prashant Solanki for ₹30 lakh each. These uncapped players were brought in as part of the team’s strategy to nurture young Indian players.

KKR then signed Rachin Ravindra and Finn Allen at reasonable prices ( ₹2 crore each). They brought back Indian players Rahul Tripathi ( ₹75 lakh), Kartik Tyagi ( ₹30 lakh) and Akash Deep ( ₹1 crore).

With retained stars like Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy, KKR now have a balanced and well-rounded squad.