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The IPL Trade Window is a time frame during which the teams get one chance to make some key changes in the squad before the player auction. It is a designated period when IPL teams can exchange players with another IPL franchise. These exchanges are either direct player swaps between two teams or an all-cash deal.
Introduced in 2009, the IPL Trade Window allows teams to address their weakness or team composition ahead of the IPL Player Auction. It must be noted that there is no trade window available before an IPL Mega Auction, like in 2025.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season trade window opened on June 10, 2025. An IPL trade window opens seven days after the IPL season final match. In this case, the IPL 2025 final was on June 3, which means the trade window opened on June 10, exactly seven days after the final. This window will remain active until seven days before the IPL 2026 Auction, which is likely to be held later this year.
The trade window will open once again the day following the IPL 2026 auction conclusion. This time, the window will remain active until 30 days before the IPL 2026 season commences in late March or early April. The post-auction trade window will allow teams the final chance to rectify any notable weakness in the team.
The IPL Trade Window comes with several rules and has variations of trades.
One of the important rules is that there is no trade window available in the year there is a mega auction scheduled, like in 2025, when there was no trade window, as it is an open market for all teams.
Players bought in the previous year's IPL auction cannot be traded immediately next season to ensure stability.
One of the important aspects of a player trade is that there should be consent from the player's side to the move. A franchise cannot trade a player without the player's consent.
There are two types of trades: one-way trade and two-way trade.
When a player switches teams in an all-cash transaction, it is known as a one-way trade.
In a one-way trade, if a player receives an offer from another franchise and if he is interested in the move, the player can tell his current franchise that he is interested in being traded.
A franchise can also initiate a trade for one of its players, but must obtain consent from the player before proceeding further.
Then, a transfer fee is discussed between the player and his current team.
The BCCI has no cap on transfer fees, and it doesn't affect the auction purse of the team that is paying the transfer fee or the team that is receiving the fee.
The player has the right to ask for a certain percentage of the transfer fee from the team he is moving out from. Once all the transfer documents are signed, they are sent to the BCCI for approval. And it is only after the approval of the BCCI that the trade is officially confirmed.
In the case of an overseas player trade, it requires a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the player's national cricket board.
Two-way trade involves a direct player swap between two teams. In this case, both teams swap a player from their team for another player from the other team.
If there is parity in both players’ salaries, then the team that is swapping the lower-salary player will also pay a particular transfer fee agreed upon by both teams to match the higher-salary player’s value.
Meanwhile, all the other rules of one-way trade are also followed in two-way trade.
Since the IPL Trade Window has been introduced in the IPL, there have been several trades that have taken place. The IPL franchises utilise the trade window to fix any visible weakness in the squad. Also, teams do trade to either free up salary cap to invest in the auction or to build a team, keeping in mind the future seasons.
As soon as the IPL 2026 trade window opened, the market was spiced up by several trade news. These trades could result in release of some high-profile players from their teams. In the early days of the trade season, Sanju Samson, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals, is the most sought-after name.
During the IPL 2025 season, several rumours surfaced stating that Sanju Samson’s relationship with the Rajasthan Royals management has significantly deteriorated, and the player is looking for a way out.
Now, the market is abuzz that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is the most interested team among several teams that are interested in acquiring the services of Sanju Samson.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had a difficult season, finishing in 10th position. The team had several issues, including captain Ruturaj Gaikwad being ruled out mid-season due to injury, and MS Dhoni had to once again assume the captaincy.
CSK is now heavily in pursuit of Sanju Samson, who not only adds a leadership option but can also replace CSK legend MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper-batter in the team, with Dhoni now close to retirement.
Additionally, it is said that the Chennai Super Kings would be open to trading off Shivam Dube and Ravichandran Ashwin as part of the agreement that would see Ashwin and Dube rejoin their previous team, the Rajasthan Royals, while Samson would join the Chennai Super Kings, a relatively local team for him.
Several reports have also added that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are also interested in bringing back their former player. Sanju Samson began his career with the KKR franchise but never played for them.
The Kolkata franchise is desperately in need of a quality Indian wicketkeeper in the team. For the past few seasons, KKR have used Phil Salt, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Litton Das as wicketkeepers, with only Salt impressing in the Knights' colours. However, the franchise failed to keep hold of him in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction as RCB included him in their team.
Not only would Sanju Samson serve as the wicketkeeper-batter, but he would also likely be appointed as the captain of the franchise. In the IPL 2025 season, Ajinkya Rahane led the franchise as the reigning champions placed eighth. They won the title under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership in 2024. But due to differences between Iyer and KKR management, Iyer parted ways with the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 season.
Not only Sanju Samson, but the Rajasthan Royals could be losing up to six different players during the IPL trade window. A franchise official told PTI that they have received a trade offer for six players from their 2025 squad.
“There have been multiple approaches by multiple franchises for about six of our players. Similarly, we have reached out to other teams for possible options,” an insider told PTI.
While Sanju Samson is the obvious one, there is still no confirmation on which five other players have attracted interest from other franchises. It is believed that Yashasvi Jaiswal is one of them.
Jaiswal is becoming known as one of Indian cricket's "next big things". The young opening batter also has an interest in leading a team. Jaiswal was almost set to leave the Mumbai state team to join the Goa state team, which offered him captaincy, until a last-minute U-turn.
There were also reports during the IPL 2025 season that he was frustrated to not be named the captain of the team when regular captain Sanju Samson wasn't able to lead the team. Instead, Riyan Parag was named the captain of the franchise.
There are few teams in the market who might be able to lure Yashasvi Jaiswal with a captaincy offer. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is probably the team that is in desperate need of a captain, and if an opportunity arises that Jaiswal is available in the market, then KKR would certainly like to swoop.
The other Rajasthan Royals player who might receive a trade offer is wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Jurel is now part of the Indian Test team, and there is a possibility of some interest from teams who need an Indian wicketkeeper. However, there is no further clue on who might be the other players who have attracted interest.
Earlier, RevSportz reported that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) might be looking to offload their biggest buy in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, Venkatesh Iyer. The left-hand batter was bought for INR 23.75 crore. However, he had a fairly underperforming season.
Why the probability of a trade deal involving Venkatesh Iyer looks difficult due to his salary, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) might still part ways with the player by releasing him ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
It is known to almost everyone that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have a long-standing interest in Rishabh Pant. The franchise views Pant as the best long-term replacement for MS Dhoni.
Pant, being an MS Dhoni fanboy himself, would be open to joining one of the most successful franchises in IPL history.
CSK was consistently referred to as the front-runner to buy Rishabh Pant at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. Nevertheless, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) paid INR 27 crore to get him. He was appointed the team's captain. But Pant had a fairly disappointing campaign. He scored only 269 runs in 13 innings, including a century vs RCB in their last match.
It will be interesting to see what the Lucknow Super Giants’ stance on Rishabh will be after the IPL 2025 performance and whether CSK will reignite their long-standing interest in him during this IPL Trade Window.
The above-mentioned are some of the possible trade deals. But now we will take a look at some previous trade deals that shook the landscape of the IPL.
Indian cricket team all-rounder Hardik Pandya rejoining the Mumbai Indians is the biggest blockbuster trade deal in the history of the IPL.
From 2015 until 2021, Hardik Pandya was a member of the Mumbai Indians. But before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, the team let him go. Hardik was soon offered an opportunity by one of the new IPL entrants, Gujarat Titans, to join the team and be the captain of the team, to which he agreed.
He guided the team to the IPL 2022 win in their debut season and helped them to the final in 2023. Mumbai Indians were soon interested in bringing back their former hero. However, Hardik Pandya added that he would only join the Mumbai Indians if he is offered captaincy.
In order to create space for Hardik Pandya in the team, the Mumbai Indians had to trade Australian all-rounder Cameron Green to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Eventually, the team announced the historic trade agreement. He was also named the captain of the Mumbai franchise, replacing Rohit Sharma, which led to some backlash.
In the history of the IPL, the Mumbai Indians have been among the most astute teams. They are the joint-most successful team in history, and there is a reason.
Mumbai has always believed in clever deals, be it in the IPL auction or a trade. In 2012, Mumbai brought in Dinesh Karthik into the setup from Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). Then, in 2013, the wicketkeeper played a key role in Mumbai's first IPL championship.
Dinesh Karthik had a stellar season in 2013. The Indian international batsman scored 510 runs in the IPL 2023 season at an average of 28.33 and helped the Mumbai Indians to win their first-ever IPL title in 2013.
Once again, the Mumbai Indians flexed their intelligence back in 2019. The franchise made a bold move for South Africa international wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock.
Mumbai Indians traded Quinton de Kock from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team in 2019, and the South African went on to have a mesmerising career with the Mumbai franchise.
He formed a crucial opening partnership with captain Rohit Sharma, delivering back-to-back 500+ run seasons and helped the Mumbai Indians to win the IPL title in 2019 and defend it again in 2020. He left the Mumbai Indians as one of the legends of the franchise in 2022.
The Mumbai Indians once again weaved their IPL trade deals magic stick in 2020. The franchise included New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult from the Delhi Capitals.
In 2020, Boult helped the Mumbai Indians win the championship in his first season there. The Kiwi pacer had a stunning season. He picked 25 wickets that season and was certainly the best pace bowler that year.
Former Indian batsman Robin Uthappa’s move to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is still one of the biggest talked-about trade deals. CSK shocked everyone when they traded in a former IPL winner with KKR ahead of the IPL 2021 season.
Uthappa went on to play a crazy role for the Chennai Super Kings in 2021. The top-order batsman played in 4 games and scored 115 runs, surprising the bowling attack with one of his best performances. CSK beat Robin’s former team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in the final to win their fourth title in 2021.
Harshal Patel’s career took a drastic turn when he joined the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in a trade deal in 2021. Whereas the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is known as hell for the bowlers, Harshal Patel made it his humble home.
Harshal took 32 wickets in his first season for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), winning the Purple Cap for best bowler and earning the nickname ‘Purple Patel’. It wasn't just a one-season wonder. Harshal Patel truly made the Chinnaswamy Stadium his hunting ground.
Before joining the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Harshal Patel took 99 wickets while playing for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
There have been numerous trade deals that took place during the IPL Trade Window, but these are among the most historic trade moves in the IPL's history.
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