For several days, there had been discussions about the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction not being held in India. In the end, it has turned out to be true.

Members of the IPL Governing Council have been discussing the matter with relevant parties. After finalizing all arrangements, the official date and venue for the auction have been announced. The auction for the glamorous 16th edition of the world’s biggest franchise cricket league will be held on 16 December in Abu Dhabi.

This information has been confirmed in a report by Cricinfo. The report states that the auction for the 19th IPL will take place on 16 December. The new season of the 2026 IPL is expected to begin on 15 March, with the title-deciding final likely to be played on 31 May.

This makes it the third consecutive time that the IPL auction is being held outside India, in the Middle East. The 2024 IPL auction was held in Dubai. Last year, in November, the two-day mega auction for the 2025 IPL took place in Jeddah.

Like other mini auctions, the 2026 IPL auction will be completed in a single day. Franchises must prepare a list of players they want to release and retain by 15 November, by 3:30 PM Bangladesh time. From that list, a shortlist of players will be sent to the franchises. They will then narrow it further to finalize the list of players eligible for the auction.

Meanwhile, a new system called the “trading window” has been introduced after the 2025 IPL. Using this system, Mumbai Indians have acquired Shardul Thakur and Sherfane Rutherford. Mumbai spent 20 million rupees to get Shardul Thakur from Lucknow Super Giants, and 26 million rupees to acquire Rutherford from Gujarat Titans.

Typically, a mega auction is held every three years. The last mega auction was conducted ahead of the 2022 IPL. This time, it will be a regular auction for the Indian franchise league. The most expensive player in IPL history was bought in the previous auction, when Lucknow Super Giants purchased Rishabh Pant for 270 million rupees and made him captain.

However, his performance did not meet expectations. The second-highest bid—267.5 million rupees—was for Shreyas Iyer, who was bought for a hefty sum and made captain by Punjab Kings. Shreyas led from the front in the 2025 IPL, but Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Punjab by 6 runs in the final to claim their first-ever title. This also ended Kohli’s 18-year wait for a championship.

According to the BCCI, the auction period coincides with India’s wedding season, during which it becomes difficult to find available hotel rooms. Keeping this in mind, the decision was made to host the auction overseas. Additionally, the Ashes series begins on 17 December, so holding the auction earlier makes it more convenient for broadcasters.

After a long wait, cricket is set to return to the Olympic Games. In the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics, both men’s and women’s events will feature six teams each, with a total of 28 matches to be played. These details were confirmed by the ICC after a meeting in Dubai.

ICC Chief Executive Sanjay Gupta said, “Inclusion in the Olympics is a major milestone for us. It will increase access to government funding, which will greatly help in development and infrastructure investment.”

He added, “If cricket continues to be included in multi-sport events such as the Asian Games, Pan-American Games, and African Games, it will gain popularity in new regions. This will also boost investment in high-performance and grassroots levels.”

In the Los Angeles Olympics, five of the six teams will come from the top countries across five continental regions — Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. The host nation will qualify directly from its region, while the remaining team will be decided through a qualifying tournament.

According to ICC rankings, the men’s teams expected to qualify directly are India (Asia), Australia (Oceania), England (Europe), South Africa (Africa), and the United States (Americas and host nation).

Teams like New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and West Indies are likely to compete in the qualifiers, from which the best-performing team will earn a spot in the main Olympic event.

Even after the failure of their top and middle-order batters, West Indies stayed alive in the contest. With a fiery stand between Mario Shepherd and Shamar Springer, the Caribbean side began to dream of victory. Their record-breaking batting brought them close, but in the end, they couldn’t pull it off — losing by 9 runs in a nail-biting finish.

On Sunday (November 9), New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first at Saxton Oval in Nelson. Riding on Devon Conway’s fifty, the Kiwis posted 177 runs for 9 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Conway scored 56 off 34 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Daryl Mitchell added 41 from 24 balls, while Rachin Ravindra contributed 26 off 15. For West Indies, Matthew Forde and Jason Holder picked up 2 wickets each.

In reply, West Indies collapsed to 88 for 8, seemingly out of the game. Then came a remarkable fightback — Mario Shepherd and Shamar Springer stitched together a 78-run stand, the highest ninth-wicket partnership in T20Is among Test-playing nations.

Ultimately, West Indies were bowled out for 168 in 19.5 overs. Springer made 39 off 20 balls, while Shepherd scored 49 off 34. Jacob Duffy and Ish Sodhi took 3 wickets apiece for New Zealand.

The much-debated Asia Cup trophy controversy came up during the ICC meeting in Dubai. However, contrary to fears of a heated exchange, the atmosphere remained calm. In fact, the representatives of the Indian and Pakistani cricket boards engaged in a polite and diplomatic conversation.

There had been uncertainty over the participation of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and interior minister Mohsin Naqvi, but he arrived in Dubai on Friday afternoon at the last moment. Although the trophy issue was not officially on the meeting’s agenda, BCCI secretary Debajit Saikia personally raised the matter. Saikia pointed out that the Asia Cup trophy was still in Pakistan and should be handed over to India soon. His tone, however, reflected a spirit of resolution rather than confrontation.

According to Cricbuzz, other member nations also supported a quick resolution to the trophy issue. A proposal was made to form a joint committee, though a final decision has yet to be taken.

India defeated Pakistan on September 28 to win the Asia Cup title, but even after a month and a half, the trophy remains in the custody of the Pakistan Cricket Board — as if a soft diplomatic match continues off the cricket field.

Laura Wolvaardt — a 26-year-old woman of stunning beauty, a name that evokes grace and strength. She could have easily been a Hollywood or Bollywood star. She could have become one of South Africa’s most popular singers. But she chose a different path — the path of cricket.

Now the captain of the South African women’s cricket team, Wolvaardt is among the finest cricketers of the modern era. Many even call her the best in the world right now. Her performances over the past two years clearly show that she has surpassed the likes of Alyssa Healy, Smriti Mandhana, and Heather Knight.

Although South Africa reached their first-ever Women’s ODI World Cup final, they could not lift the trophy. Yet, Wolvaardt’s composed and responsible batting captured everyone’s attention. Even after scoring a century in the final, she could not celebrate with the trophy — and that’s why she is often called the “tragic hero” of women’s cricket. For the past two years, she has been writing a story of heartbreak.

Wolvaardt has been the top run-scorer across the last three ICC tournaments. In every final, she scored the most runs for her team. Her team may not have won, but she has won the hearts of cricket fans around the world.

Just the other day at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, she scored a brilliant 101 runs while chasing India’s 298. But even that valiant effort wasn’t enough to secure the World Cup. After the match, while Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Shafali Verma celebrated their historic win in pure joy, Wolvaardt sat silently outside the dressing room — motionless, lost in her thoughts.

This 26-year-old played so well throughout the tournament that her name has been etched into the record books. With her 169 in the semifinal and 101 in the final, she scored a total of 571 runs in the World Cup — the highest ever in a single edition. The previous record belonged to Healy, with 509 runs.

In the 2023 T20 World Cup, she was again the highest run-scorer with 230 runs, scoring 61 in the final, which South Africa lost to Australia by 19 runs. In the 2024 T20 World Cup, she added 223 runs, including a team-high 33 in the final.

Across 119 ODIs, Laura Wolvaardt has scored 5,222 runs, including 11 centuries and 38 fifties — a remarkable record for one of the most elegant batters in world cricket.