5 min readChennaiDec 16, 2025 10:35 AM IST
First published on: Dec 15, 2025 at 05:28 PM IST
In the lead-up to the 2024 mega auction, where Royal Challengers Bengaluru assembled a squad so strong that it was able to overcome the most challenging of conditions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the franchise had given a sneak peek into their drawing board. Having drawn up nine different combinations, Team No. 5 was their pick, a side they believed would land the elusive trophy. In the days that followed, via mock drills and more, RCB will try to figure out all sorts of possibilities to land the players that won them the title.
FOLLOW: IPL 2026 Auction Live Updates
The IPL auctions, which are an annual affair, still remains a code that is hard to crack. The sheer unpredictability is what makes it a spectacle. The approval of it can be seen in mock auctions on YouTube channels. Last week, R Ashwin and Kris Srikkanth had their own mock auctions as a build-up for the actual event set to take place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. On Monday, the IPL’s broadcaster will have its own mock auctions. Apart from adding more flavour, these mock auctions won’t serve much.
The mock auctions, as a concept, was born in the drawing room of the franchises. The practice, they thought, would prepare them for all sorts of probabilities and help land other targets if their Plan A doesn’t come to fruition. So, how far are these mock auctions helpful? It is a question that divides opinions. “It varies from team to team,” Gaurav Sundararaman, an analyst for 14 years and who has been part of IPL auctions in the past, told The Indian Express. “It really depends on what kind of people feature in a mock auction. If you don’t have the right set of people who can think, who know in detail about cricket, they’ll just pick some players who they feel like. That may not give you a right indicator. But if you have the right set of people, then you will get a fair picture. If you have all 10 teams represented by 10 really, well-prepared individuals who know in and out about it, then you will get a fair picture. But people just want to do it, I guess, more like it becomes a tick box. I don’t think mock auctions are that important,” he adds.
There are franchises which take it seriously and, at the auction table, follow it to the T. With the player sequencing and list already out in the domain, they have used the mock auctions to have Plan A, B, C and D in place. At the mini-auctions, the mock drills come with a different challenge, thanks to the mismatch between demand and supply. “When the demand is more and the supply in minimum, we can’t second-guess other franchises’ strategy. You would have a target based on data, match-ups and more, then you will find the emotional connect that none of us can prepare. A coach or a captain will have an emotional connection with a player, for which you have to keep aside 10-15% of the funds, which no one in the mock drill will know. It evolves a lot on the auction table as well. If you can get 70% right at the auction, then it means the mock auction served you well,” another analyst who wishes to be anonymous says.
10-15%
Of auction purse kept aside for emotional player picks by coaches and captains
85-90%
Data-driven strategy based on match-ups and analytics
10-15%
Emotional connections no mock auction can predict
Mock Auction Gap: If franchises get 70% of their auction strategy right, the mock served them well—the rest evolves on the auction table through unpredictable emotional decisions.
Coach Connection
Past working relationships influence last-minute bids
Captain's Call
Leadership preferences override data analytics
Branding Appeal
Superstar value suddenly takes priority
Auction Dynamics
Live emotions and irrational decisions emerge
Indian Express InfoGenIE
Owner’s role
The mock auctions have also missed a key participant. While the coaches and the support staff regularly indulge in it, a very few team owners who raise the paddle at the auction table tend to participate in the mock drills. Thrown in the dynamic nature of the auctions and the emotional element that comes with it, even in the age of AI, Gaurav reckons it is hard to prepare via mock auctions. “Auctions generally is very irrational. It’s not very rational. By irrational, what I mean is, suddenly emotions will take over, or suddenly branding may take over, or I just need this superstar player, whatever happens. Then, because of demand and supply, an uncapped player could go for a high price. Now, it is impossible for a mock auction to tell me an uncapped player will go at a huge price. I think unless you do 100 mock auctions with proper people, you will never get a computer to predict this irrationality. The owner should also be part of the various mock auctions, and I think it’s a long way away,” he adds.
A franchise that has usually walked away from auctions knowing its XI in the past attributes its mock auctions as one of the reasons for it. “For mock auctions, we do a lot of preparation because that’s is the most important aspect. If X picks a player, we ask them to explain the rationale and so on. We start with 15-20 people, and then we cut it down to 10 closer to the auctions,” an official said.
The IPL auctions, which are an annual affair, still remain a code that is hard to crack. The sheer unpredictability is what makes it a spectacle. (Sportzpics) 
Share
