The Hundred Auction 2026 threw up a lot of surprises as franchises spent big to secure top talent for the upcoming season. While some of the big names went unsold, several players fetched massive bids, highlighting the growing financial power of England’s 100-ball league. However, when the talk of record-breaking auctions starts, it’s hard to ignore the Indian Premier League (IPL), which dominates the cricket economy with huge player salaries every season. The IPL 2026 auction once again saw franchises shelling out crores of rupees on star players, dwarfing the spending in other leagues.
Poll
Would you like to see franchisees at The Hundred increase their spending?
The Hundred vs IPL 2026 Auction: Top 10 Most Expensive Players ComparedTop 10 Buys in The Hundred 2026 (converted to INR)
| James Coles | London Spirit | £390,000 | 4.8 crores of Rs |
| Tom Curran | MI London | £260,000 | 3.2 crores of Rs |
| Adil Rashid | South Bahadur | £250,000 | 3.08 Crore Rs |
| Heinrich Klassen | Manchester Supergiants (already signed) | £250,000 | 3.08 Crore Rs |
| Joe Root | Welsh fire | £240,000 | 2.95 Crore Rs |
| Dean Lawrence | Sunrisers Leeds | £210,000 | 2.58 crores of Rs |
| Scott Currie | Birmingham Phoenix | £210,000 | 2.58 crores of Rs |
| Aidan Markram | Manchester Supergiants | £200,000 | 2.46 crores of Rs |
| Passionate language | Manchester Supergiants | £200,000 | 2.46 crores of Rs |
| James Vince | MI London | £190,000 | 2.34 crores of Rs |
The top bidder at the auction was James Coles, who bagged around Rs 4.8 crore with London Spirit. The inclusion of English stars like Joe Root, Adil Rashid and international players like Henrik Klaasen and Aiden Markram underlines the growing competitiveness of the league.
Buy Top 10 in IPL 2026 Auction
| Cameron Greene | Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | 25.20 crores of Rs |
| Mathisha Pathirana. | Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | 18 crores of Rs |
| Prashant Veer | Chennai Super Kings (CSK) | 14.20 crores of Rs |
| Karthik Sharma | Chennai Super Kings (CSK) | 14.20 crores of Rs |
| Liam Livingston | Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) | 13 crores of Rs |
| Mustafizur Rehman | Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | 9.20 crores of Rs |
| Josh Inglis | Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) | 8.60 crores of Rs |
| Aqib Nabi | Delhi Capitals | 8.40 crores of Rs |
| Ravi Bishnoi | Rajasthan Royals | 7.20 crores of Rs |
| Venkatesh Iyer | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 7.00 Crore Rs |
IPL dominates the financial charts once again. Cameron Greene 25.20 crores, emerging as the most expensive player, The Hundred fetched almost five times more bids.
IPL vs Hundred: A Huge Financial Difference
A quick comparison highlights the difference in scale between the two leagues:
- Highest Salary: Rs 4.8 Crores
- Highest IPL Salary: Rs 25.20 Crores
This means that the top IPL player earned 5 times more than the highest paid player in The Hundred. The reason behind this huge difference is the broadcast rights of IPL which is more popular globally than The Hundred and with higher franchise revenue, IPL has promoted one of the largest funded T20 leagues.
