41 players with salaries over ₹1 crore warming the bench:Talent worth over ₹200 crores benched; all 10 teams ranked

In the IPL auction, teams spend big bucks to acquire big players. However, due to reasons like injury or team combination, many expensive players are unable to find a place in the playing XI. Approximately one-third of the current season has been completed. All teams have played at least 5 matches. Yet, there are 41 players with salaries over ₹1 crore or more who have either not played a single match or have been limited to just a couple of games. This season, many low-cost players are getting more opportunities, while expensive players are sitting on the bench. As a result, the total amount spent on teams’ bench strength has crossed the ₹200 crore rupees mark. Big bucks, not so big impact Let’s take a look at the most expensive players of the IPL 2026 auction. Kolkata Knight Riders splashed ₹25.2 crores on Australian all-rounder Cameron Green. However, captain Ajinkya Rahane revealed that Green was not fit to bowl in the earlier games. He also hasn’t had the best season with the bat, scoring just 162 runs so far, with an average of 27, and a 151.4 strike rate. The second most expensive player in this year’s auction also went to KKR, Matheesha Pathirana. He was injured ahead of the T20 World Cup, and has only joined the team after they have already played 7 games, half of the tournament is done and dusted for the Knights with their marquee bowler. Chennai Super Kings splashed a combined ₹28.4 crores, on Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma, but the former has played only 2 games, while Kartik has played in 2 matches. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals spent ₹8.4 crores on Jammu Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi, but he too has played only 2 matches, and is yet to get his first wicket in the cash-rich league. Injuries hurting IPL teams While some teams have not received the impact they desired from their big money signings, other teams were set back with injuries to key players. Many players have joined their teams late, while there are a few players like Will Jacks and Mitchell Starc who have not joined their teams. The likes of Pat Cummins and Matheesha Pathirana have joined their respective team’s camps, but have yet to play any games. Teams with expensive players on bench are not in the top… Delhi-Mumbai are exceptions Expensive bench strength means teams are not utilising resources properly. This also affects performance. Sunrisers have players worth ₹Rs 34 crore warming the bench, including big names like Liam Livingstone and Harshal Patel. Lucknow Super Giants have ₹33.20 crore worth of talent on their bench. Delhi have ₹29.95 crore worth of players out of favour, while Chennai Super Kings (₹29.70 crore) and Kolkata Knight Riders (₹23 crore) are also facing a similar problem. Among these, only Delhi is in the top-5 Chennai and Kolkata are in the bottom-3 positions. Mumbai is also an exception, with only ₹6.25 crore worth of players on the bench, yet they are in 10th place. Due to the Impact Player rule, teams are using 12 players instead of 11. Some star players who were bought expensively as ‘all-rounders’ but are slightly weak in one department (batting or bowling) have gone straight to the bench.