Abhigyan Kundu’s historic double century in the Under-19 Asia Cup has set tongues wagging across the cricketing world, especially with the IPL 2026 auction taking place today, Tuesday, December 16. However, despite his record-shattering knock, the 17-year-old will not feature when franchises go under the hammer. Kundu created history in Dubai on Tuesday after smashing an unbeaten 209 against Malaysia, becoming the first Indian to score a double hundred in Youth ODIs and only the second player overall to reach the milestone. The wicketkeeper-batter, batting at number five, struck 19 fours and seven sixes in a 125-ball innings that powered India Under-19 to a towering 408 for seven.
The timing of the innings has naturally led to questions about his IPL prospects, but Kundu’s name is absent from the IPL 2026 auction list. As a result, franchises will not be able to bid for the teenage sensation during today’s auction. India’s Under-19 presence at the auction will instead be represented by a select group of players. All-rounders Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan and Khilan Patel have been listed with a base price of Rs. 30 lakh, along with bowler Naman Pushpak and batter Aaron George Varghese, who also carry the same base price. Kundu’s exclusion from the auction does little to take away from the magnitude of his achievement. His double century marked only the second such instance in Youth ODI history, following South Africa’s Jorich van Schalkwyk, who scored 215 against Zimbabwe earlier this year in Harare. The tournament has already witnessed other big scores, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 95-ball 171 against the UAE standing as the ninth-highest individual score in the format. For now, Kundu’s journey remains rooted in age-group cricket, even as the IPL spotlight shines elsewhere today. But after a knock of this scale, it is clear that his moment at the auction table is not a question of if, but when.
