How IPL’s most expensive players performed in 2026:Virat Kohli proved a bargain; Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah flopped, Shreyas Iyer excels

The IPL 2026 season, one of the most memorable in recent times, has come to an end. Records went tumbling and several top cricketers cemented their status as the brightest stars in the cricket galaxy. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) retained their title with a dominant victory over the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This was only the third time that a team has won back-to-back IPL titles. Virat Kohli justifies his 21 crore price tag with 675 runs: Rs 18 crore worth Bumrah flops with 4 wickets; how most expensive players performed The IPL 2026 season, one of the most memorable in recent times, has come to an end. Records went tumbling and several top cricketers cemented their status as the brightest stars in the cricket galaxy. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) retained their title with a dominant victory over the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This was only the third time that a team has won back-to-back IPL titles. While all the action was surely unmissable, there was scrutiny on how the big-money players performed. The auction before the season saw some players being retained for massive amounts while many also fetched large sums at the mini-auction. So how did the most expensive players from each team perform? Note: The cap has been set at Rs 18 crore or more with some teams being the exception
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Virat Kohli was the most expensive player retained by RCB and he sure did live up to the expectations. The star cricketer, one of the icons of the tournament, struck 675 runs in 16 matches, which included five half-centuries and one century. ‘Chase Master’ Kohli was on show in the IPL 2026 final where he struck an unbeaten 75 to help RCB win the title for a second consecutive year. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) One of the teams that failed to live upto expectations has been the Chennai Super Kings. The five-time champions occasionally showed promise in the race to the playoffs but their challenge fizzled out in no time. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson were two of their most expensive players. Gaikwad had an underwhelming campaign of sorts, where he scored 337 runs in 14 matches with just two half-centuries. And the fact that he did not fire with the bat was one of the reasons for CSK not qualifying for the playoffs for a third consecutive season. Samson, in contrast, had a good season. The wicketkeeper-batter was traded to CSK from Rajasthan Royals, with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran going the other way. In 14 matches, Samson scored 477 runs in 14 matches with two centuries to his name. At one point, it even seemed that CSK’s batting rested on his shoulders on occasions where his failure led to the team’s flop show. Delhi Capitals (DC) The Rs 18 crore marker does not apply to the Delhi Capitals, whose most expensive player (retained) was their captain Axar Patel. The all-rounder, part of India’s T20 World Cup 2026 triumph, had a disappointing campaign as per his standards. Retained for Rs 16.50 crore, Axar scored 173 runs in 14 matches with just one half-century. His performance was comparatively better with the ball, where he picked up 11 wickets. KL Rahul, the second-most expensive player for the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2026, however, did not disappoint. The right-hander, who also kept wickets for DC regularly this season, scored 593 runs in 14 matches, with five fifties and one century, a record-breaking 152* (highest T20 score by an Indian). Behind the stumps, Rahul completed three dismissals, with two being catches and the other, a stumping. Gujarat Titans (GT) Rashid Khan was the most expensive retained player for the Gujarat Titans. The leg-spinner, recognised globally as one of the best in the shortest format of the game, had a decent campaign where he did well in patches. Rashid picked up 21 wickets in 17 matches, but his economy rate was more than nine, something that did not help his team’s cause. He also scored 50 runs and took four catches. Shubman Gill, the GT captain, was the second-most expensive player for his franchise. The right-hander justified his T20 credentials big time with 732 runs in 16 matches, finishing second in the Orange Cap race. He took 12 catches, including some spectacular ones. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Kolkata Knight Riders were among the biggest spenders heading into the season, investing big on Cameron Green (Rs 25.2 crore) and Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 18 crore). Signed for Rs 25.2 crore, Green had a poor start to the season, a run which saw KKR go winless in their first seven matches. But he picked up pace as the Knights scripted a turnaround of sorts and came up with important performances in a four-match winning run. Green scored 322 runs in 14 matches while taking seven wickets. Pathirana, KKR’s second-most expensive buy at Rs 18 crore, missed a good part of the season and could bowl just eight balls into his debut for the franchise before suffering another injury. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) One of the teams which flopped big time this season was the Lucknow Super Giants. And the reason for LSG’s failure can largely be attributed to how two of their most expensive players in Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran performed. Pant, the most expensive player in IPL history at Rs 27 crore, could score just 312 runs in 14 matches with just one half-century. He was, however, decent behind the stumps, with 10 catches. Nicholas Pooran had a massively disappointing campaign. One of the most explosive T20 batters, Pooran was barely a shadow of himself this IPL, with 234 runs in 14 matches, striking at just 127.86. Mumbai Indians (MI) The fact that the Mumbai Indians underperformed big time in IPL 2026 is primarily because of the poor showing by their big four players- Jasprit Bumrah, captain Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. Bumrah, retained for Rs 18 crore, had a good T20 World Cup and entered IPL 2026 with lots of expectations. But the pacer, retained for Rs 18 crore, could barely make an impact in the games he played, going wicketless for his first five matches. He picked up four wickets in 13 matches. Hardik Pandya endured a tough campaign as well, both as a player and as captain. Pandya was retained for Rs 16.35 crore and scored 206 runs in 10 matches with no half-century and took just four wickets. Suryakumar Yadav hit 270 runs in 13 matches and did not do enough to justify the price tag of Rs 16.35 with which he was retained. The Hitman Rohit Sharma, retained for Rs 16.30 crore, was also a shadow of his former self, with just 283 runs in nine matches. Punjab Kings (PBKS) Despite Punjab Kings suffering one of the most remarkable collapses in the history of the IPL, their captain, Shreyas Iyer, was worth his weight in gold. Under Iyer, Punjab Kings became the first team in IPL history to go unbeaten in their first six matches. Retained for Rs 26.75 crore, Iyer scored 498 runs in 14 matches, including a century in their last league match, which saw Punjab Kings beat the Lucknow Super Giants to end a six-match losing streak. Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal, retained for Rs 18 crore each, however, turned out to be disappointing. Yes, Arshdeep did pick up 14 wickets in as many matches, but the fact that he conceded runs at an economy of 10.20 did more harm than good. Chahal, the highest wicket-taker in IPL history, picked up just 12 wickets and did not play the role he was expected to. Rajasthan Royals (RR)
The Rajasthan Royals had just one player above the Rs 18 crore-mark- Yashasvi Jaiswal. One of the best young players in India and a potential all-format star, Jaiswal did not quite seem to be at his best despite hitting 427 runs in 16 matches. He had three fifties to his name, with a top score of 77*. But Jaiswal, who seemingly at times got overshadowed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s brilliance, would not look back at IPL 2026 as a memorable season for him. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Heinrich Klaasen, the most expensive retained player for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (Rs 23 crore) was one of the standout performers in the tournament. A rock in SRH’s middle-order, Klaasen mixed caution with aggression with brilliance, scoring 624 runs in 15 appearances while striking at 160. He also took 13 catches. Pat Cummins, SRH skipper was also retained for a big sum (Rs 18 crore) and he had an average campaign, despite missing some matches. Cummins picked up eight wickets in eight matches with an economy rate that was close to 10.