There have already been 50 games in the IPL 2026, but one issue that has affected every team is the players' absences at various points during the campaign. Due to injuries, withdrawals, or unavailability, a sizable number of players were sidelined. The amount comes to an enormous Rs 57.6 crore when we include the money these players fetched at the IPL 2026 auction. To put things in perspective, the Kolkata Knight Riders had the biggest purse of any franchise going into this year's auction, valued at Rs 64.30 crore.
Two significant absences from the 2024 champions are Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 18 crore) and Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore).

Pathirana hasn't played a single game because of fitness issues, while Harshit was disqualified from the competition owing to knee ligament surgery.
Sam Curran, an England all-rounder, was a huge blow to the Rajasthan Royals when he was ruled out shortly after completing an incredible transfer from CSK. Even for CSK, the team's composition was severely affected in the middle of the tournament due to the absence of talented pacers like Khaleel Ahmed and Nathan Ellis as well as their star young player Ayush Mhatre.Will Jacks only recently began playing for the Mumbai Indians, and Rohit Sharma missed several games due to physical issues, so even the team had its ups and downs. Mitchell Santner, a standout from New Zealand, was sidelined for the rest of the competition due to a shoulder injury.
The availability of Australian cricket players has also been discussed extensively, with some missing out and others coming late. Josh Hazlewood missed a handful of Royal Challengers Bengaluru's opening games, and Mitchell Starc joined the Delhi Capitals following several games. Cricket Australia's (CA) workload management has even limited Cameron Green's bowling.

The full list of players that have not yet participated in the 2026 Indian Premier League:

Rs 18 crore for Matheesha Pathirana

Rahman Mustafizur: Rs 9.2 crore

Ahmed Khaleel: Rs 4.8 crore

Rs 4 crore for Harshit Rana

Jack Edwards: 3 crore rupees

Sam Curran: 2.4 crore rupees

Nathan Ellis: two crore rupees

Wanindu Hasaranga: two crore rupees

Tom Banton: two crore rupees

Mitchell Santner: two crore rupees

Ben Duckett: two crore rupees

Matthew Short: 1.5 crore rupees

David Payne: 1.5 crore rupees

Akash Deep: One crore rupees

Brydon Carse: One crore rupees

Atharva Ankolekar: thirty lakh rupees

Prithviraj Yarra: thirty lakh rupees

Ayush Mhatre: thirty lakh rupees

Ramakrishna Ghosh: thirty lakh rupees

Besides injuries, there were a couple of absentees who did not take part in IPL 2026 due to completely different reasons. Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was bought by KKR for a huge Rs 9.2 crore in the auction, but he was released by the franchise amid tense political relations between India and Bangladesh.

On the other hand, England batter Ben Duckett pulled out of the competition as he wanted to concentrate on Test cricket; consequently, he did not end up playing for Delhi Capitals.