The final list for the player auction is out, announced by the governing council of the Indian Premier League, which is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16. As many as 350 players have made it to the final shortlisting, while all ten teams will be aiming at filling gaps in their squads.

 

While the big names of Cameron Green, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Jamie Smith, and Quinton de Kock are drawing much attention, there is one player who has surprised many fans.

 

Chaudhary is an Indian-origin all-rounder, who now plays in Australia, and has featured in the IPL 2026 auction list as an uncapped Indian. Many fans, therefore, have gone on to question why a player active in Australian cricket would find a place in the Indian category instead of being bracketed as an overseas player.

 

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Who is Nikhil Chaudhary?

 

Nikhil Chaudhary was born 29 years ago in India and represented the team of Punjab in domestic cricket. He was included in both the List A and T20 teams for Punjab in 2017. Having not been given sufficient opportunities in Indian cricket, he moved to Australia in 2020 to continue his career.

 

He represents Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, having already played 20 games so far. He has scored 386 runs and grabbed nine wickets in these games. As far as first-class cricket is concerned, Chaudhary has been representing Tasmania. He is now seen as a strong all-round option in Australian domestic cricket.

 

He is also only the second Indian-origin player to feature in the BBL after Unmukt Chand.

 

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Why is he listed as "Uncapped Indian" in the IPL auction?

 

Plenty of fans are perplexed as Chaudhary plays full-time in Australia, but the IPL auction list has him in the Uncapped All-Rounders 5 (UAL5) group with a base price of INR 40 lakh, while his state association is listed as the Punjab Cricket Association.

 

The underlying fact is that Chaudhary has never retired from Indian cricket. Even though playing in Australia, he is still an “Indian” player in the books of the BCCI.

 

According to the rules, no active Indian player is allowed to take part in overseas leagues unless he has retired from all forms of Indian cricket. That means that even when the player moves abroad and plays domestic cricket elsewhere, he is still an Indian player officially if he has not retired.

 

Chaudhary shifted to Australia in the year 2020 in search of better opportunities, yet he has not retired from Indian cricket. That's why BCCI considers him as an Indian player, and IPL does the same.