Indian Premier League (IPL) teams will have until November 15 to finalise the list of retained and released players ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction later this year.
With not much time left for the deadline, trade deals between franchises are in full swing, with all teams eyeing players from other teams.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction often grabs headlines for its massive bids and dramatic moments, but the IPL trade window quietly operates in the background.
Although it is underutilised and undervalued, the trade window provides franchises with an opportunity to address gaps in their squads, particularly after a tumultuous IPL campaign.
Just like the IPL trade war that is currently underway, IPL fans have witnessed similar trade wars before. Let’s look at some of the biggest trade deals in IPL history.
Biggest Trade Deals in IPL History
There have been some trade deals in IPL history that have surprised fans. These deals seemed almost impossible, but thanks to the franchise’s understanding, they became possible. Some of these players performed exceptionally well for their franchise, yet were traded to another franchise. Let’s have a look at some of the biggest trade deals in IPL history.
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Hardik Pandya’s Return to the Mumbai Indians
The biggest trade deal in IPL, certainly happened before the IPL 2024 auction, when a deal affected three franchises. That deal, of course, was Hardik Pandya’s move to the Mumbai Indians (MI).
The former Gujarat Titans (GT) captain surprised everyone. IPL fans are most surprised by this trade because Hardik Pandya helped the Gujarat Titans reach the finals twice in a row. At that time, no one thought that the Gujarat Titans would agree to trade Hardik Pandya.
Consequently, MI also sold Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Apart from this, it became the biggest cash deal in IPL history. When Royal Challengers Bangalore agreed to give a huge amount of Rs 17.5 crore as a trade cash deal to MI.
Sanju Samson wants to move on from the Rajasthan Royals
Sanju Samson had decided to part ways with Rajasthan Royals after IPL 2025, after which different franchise names started getting associated with him.
With rumours of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) buying Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson, the trade window has become a hot topic among fans. However, at the time of writing this article, this trade deal had not been officially sealed.
Moreover, Shardul Thakur became the first official trade this year. The Lucknow Super Giants sold Thakur to the Mumbai Indians for ₹2 crore. Mumbai also traded Sherfane Rutherford to the Gujarat Titans for ₹2.6 crore.
Quinton de Kock traded from RCB to MI
Ahead of IPL 2019, RCB also surprisingly traded their fourth-highest run scorer, Quinton de Kock, to the Mumbai Indians in an all-cash deal.
De Kock has reportedly been bought by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 2.8 crore, which was the same amount that the Royal Challengers had paid to buy him during the 2018 IPL auction.
In eight matches played for RCB in IPL 2018, de Kock scored 201 runs at a strike rate of 124.07 and finished the season as the fourth-highest run-scorer for his team.
Kings XI Swap Stoinis With RCB’s Mandeep Singh
Kings XI Punjab have opted for a direct trade in the first trading window of IPL 2019, bringing back batsman Mandeep Singh in place of Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis.
Mandeep, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2018, was confirmed to return, but the franchises agreed to the trade of Stoinis, with the formalities completed.
A regular for Punjab in domestic tournaments, Mandeep represented Kings XI Punjab from 2011 to 2014 before joining RCB in 2015.
He was again bought by RCB for ₹1.40 crore in the 2018 auction. Stoinis was also signed by RCB, but Kings XI Punjab used the right-to-match card to retain him for ₹6.20 crore.
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Kevin Peterson transferred to Delhi from the Deccan Chargers
England batsman Kevin Pietersen moved from Deccan Chargers to Delhi Daredevils for the 2012 season of the IPL. Pietersen was then the third player to switch teams during the transfer window, after Dinesh Karthik and R Sathish.
Pietersen was previously part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and captained the team for a few matches in 2009. He was bought by the Deccan Chargers during the 2011 player auction, but could not play due to recovering from a hernia.
Zaheer Khan and Robin Uthappa swapped their Franchises
IPL fans were surprised before the 2009 season when Zaheer Khan and Robin Uthappa changed their IPL franchises. Following their trades, they returned to their home teams.
Bangalore were initially not interested in trading Zaheer, but agreed to the idea of Uthappa playing for his hometown. IPL fans have been surprised by this deal, and it has become one of the biggest trade deals in IPL history.
Bangalore had bought Zaheer for US$450,000 in the previous IPL auction in 2008, while Mumbai had paid US$850,000 for Uthappa; however, sources within the Mumbai franchise stated that no money was involved in the deal.
This is the second exchange in the transfer window at that time. Before this, Shikhar Dhawan had come to Mumbai from Delhi in exchange for Ashish Nehra.
All Players’ Trade Deals in IPL History
| IPL Year | Player | From | To | Deal Details |
| 2009 | Ashish Nehra | DD | MI | Swap deal with Shikhar Dhawan |
| 2009 | Zaheer Khan | RCB | MI | Swap deal with Robin Uthappa |
| 2012 | Pragyan Ojha | Deccan Chargers | MI | Undisclosed Amount |
| 2012 | Kevin Peterson | Deccan Chargers | DD | Undisclosed cash deal |
| 2012 | Dinesh Karthik | KXIP | MI | Undisclosed Sum & Swap deal with R Sathish |
| 2013 | Ashish Nehra | PWI | DD | Swap deal with Ross Taylor |
| 2015 | Parthiv Patel | RCB | MI | Swap deal with Manvinder Bisla |
| 2015 | Manvinder Bisla | KKR | RCB | All cash Deal |
| 2015 | Unmukt Chand | – | MI | All cash Deal |
| 2015 | Vinay Kumar | – | MI | All cash Deal |
| 2016 | KL Rahul | SRH | RCB | Undisclosed amount involved |
| 2016 | Kedar Jadhav | DD | RCB | Undisclosed amount involved |
| 2019 | Quinton de Kock | RCB | MI | Cash deal for Rs 2.8 crore |
| 2019 | Marcus Stoinis | KXIP | RCB | Rs 6.2 crore & swap deal with Mandeep Singh |
| 2019 | Shikhar Dhawan | SRH | DC | Rs 5.2 crore & swap deal with Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem and Vijay Shankar |
| 2020 | Ajinkya Rahane | RR | DC | Rs 5.25 crore & swap deal with Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia |
| 2020 | R Ashwin | KXIP | DC | Rs 7.6 crore & swap deal with J Suchith |
| 2020 | Trent Boult | DC | MI | Undisclosed Sum |
| 2021 | Robin Uthappa | RR | CSK | All cash Deal |
| 2021 | Harshal Patel | DC | RCB | swap deal with Daniel Sams |
| 2022 | Lockie Ferguson | GT 1 | KKR | Cash deal for Rs 10 crore |
| 2022 | Shardul Thakur | DC | KKR | Cash deal for Rs 10.75 crore |
| 2023 | Jason Behrendorff | RCB | MI | Undisclosed Sum |
| 2024 | Romario Shepherd | LSG | MI | Cash Deal for 50 lakhs |
| 2024 | Avesh Khan | LSG | RR | Rs 10 crore & swap deal with Devdutt Padikkal |
| 2024 | Hardik Pandya | GT | MI | Cash deal for Rs 15 crore |
| 2024 | Cameron Green | MI | RCB | Cash deal for Rs 17.5 crore |
| 2026 | Shardul Thakur | LSG | MI | Cash deal for Rs 2 crore |
| 2026 | Sherfane Rutherford | GT | MI | Cash deal for Rs 2.6 crore |
| 2026 | Sanju Samson | RR | CSK | Swap deal with Ravindra Jadeja & Sam Curran |
| 2026 | Arjun Tendulkar | MI | LSG | Cash deal for Rs 30 lakh |
| 2026 | Mohammed Shami | SRH | LSG | Cash deal for Rs 10 crore |
| 2026 | Mayank Markande | KKR | MI | Cash deal for Rs 30 lakh |
| 2026 | Nitish Rana | RR | DC | Cash deal for Rs 4.2 crore |
| 2026 | Donovan Ferreira | DC | RR | Cash deal for Rs 1 crore |