Jamie Smith in IPL 2026? Why England star is not eligible for next year's mini auction – Explained – sportingnews.com

Mayank Bande
The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith has quickly established himself as one of the brightest young talents in English cricket over the past year, becoming a regular in the national setup.
Smith’s composed stroke play and solid technique were on full display during his unbeaten 184 off 207 balls against India in Birmingham — caught the attention of the cricketing world. 
Naturally, his standout performance led to speculations about his potential demand in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, until it was revealed he wouldn’t be eligible.
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Many teams are usually after an explosive overseas top-order batter who can also keep the wickets, and Smith fits the bill perfectly.
However, the right-hander will not be eligible for the IPL 2026 auction and will have to wait for at least two seasons to get a lucrative IPL contract.
Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, the league’s governing council introduced new eligibility rules for overseas players. One key regulation stated that players who failed to register for the mega auction would not be allowed to enter subsequent mini auctions during the same cycle.
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This rule was enforced to ensure fairness across auction stages and prevent players from gaining an unfair advantage in contract negotiations.
Since Jamie Smith did not register for the IPL 2025 mega auction, he is now ineligible to feature in any IPL mini auction until the next cycle begins. That means the earliest he can enter the IPL auction pool is for the 2028 season.
In his short career, Smith has only played 5 T20Is and scored 130 runs at a strike rate of 194.02 with a highest of 60. He has 1484 runs in his overall T20 career that includes The Hundred and Vitality Blast.
Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.

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