Player trades have become a crucial part of IPL team-building strategies since they were officially introduced in 2018. Unlike auctions where teams bid with money, trade deals involve direct player exchanges or transfers between franchises, often with cash compensation. These moves allow teams to fill specific gaps mid-cycle without waiting for mega auctions.

How IPL Trades Work (Quick Context)

The IPL has allowed teams to trade players between franchises via a formal trading window since ahead of the 2009 season. Unlike auctions, these are direct team‑to‑team moves – either:

Player-for-player swaps, or
All‑cash trades, where the buying franchise pays the other and takes over the player’s existing contract.

Below is a consolidated list of every pre‑season trade officially recorded (plus early-window deals documented by reliable records and databases) from 2009 through the 2026 mini‑auction window.

Complete IPL Trade List (Chronological)

Key: DD = Delhi Daredevils, DC = Delhi Capitals, KXIP/PBKS = Kings XI/Punjab Kings, RR = Rajasthan Royals, MI = Mumbai Indians, RCB = Royal Challengers (Bangalore/Bengaluru), SRH = Sunrisers Hyderabad, DCg = Deccan Chargers, PWI = Pune Warriors India, RPS/RPSG = Rising Pune Supergiants, LSG = Lucknow Super Giants, GT = Gujarat Titans, KKR = Kolkata Knight Riders, CSK = Chennai Super Kings.

Season*	Player	From	To	Trade Type / Note
2009	Ashish Nehra	MI	DD	Swap with Shikhar Dhawan
2009	Shikhar Dhawan	DD	MI	Swap with Nehra
2009	Zaheer Khan	RCB	MI	Swap with Robin Uthappa
2009	Robin Uthappa	MI	RCB	Swap with Zaheer
2009	Jaydev Shah	RR	MI	Multi‑player trade
2009	Gaurav Dhiman	MI	RCB	Multi‑player trade
2009	Pankaj Singh	RR	RCB	Multi‑player trade
2010	Moises Henriques	KKR	DD	Trade
2010	Owais Shah	DD	KKR	Trade
2010	Manoj Tiwary	DD	KKR	Trade
2012	Andrew McDonald	DD	RCB	Trade
2012	Kevin Pietersen	DCg	DD	Trade (DCg→DD)
2012	Dinesh Karthik	KXIP	MI	Cash trade
2012	Harmeet Singh	DCg	KXIP	Trade
2012	Rajagopal Sathish	MI	KXIP	Part of Karthik deal
2012	Pragyan Ojha	DCg	MI	Trade
2012	Ashok Dinda	DD	PWI	Trade
2012	Shreevats Goswami	KKR	RR	Trade
2012	Ross Taylor	RR	DD	Trade
2012	Abhishek Jhunjhunwala	PWI	DCg	Trade
2012	Ali Murtaza	MI	PWI	Trade
2013	Ashish Nehra	PWI	DD	Trade
2013	Ross Taylor	DD	PWI	Trade
2015	Iqbal Abdulla	RR	RCB	Trade
2015	Manvinder Bisla	KKR	RCB	Trade
2015	Parthiv Patel	RCB	MI	Trade
2015	Unmukt Chand	RR	MI	Trade
2015	Vinay Kumar	KKR	MI	Trade
2015	Mandeep Singh	KXIP	RCB	Trade 2
2016	Kedar Jadhav	DD	RCB	Trade
2016	Albie Morkel	DD	RPSG	Trade
2016	Saurabh Tiwary	DD	RPSG	Trade
2016	KL Rahul	SRH	RCB	Trade
2016	Parvez Rasool	SRH	RCB	Trade
2017	Mayank Agarwal	DD	RPSG	Trade
2017	Shardul Thakur	KXIP	RPSG	Trade
2019	Quinton de Kock	RCB	MI	All‑cash trade
2019	Mandeep Singh	RCB	KXIP	Swap with Stoinis
2019	Marcus Stoinis	KXIP	RCB	Swap with Mandeep
2019	Shikhar Dhawan	SRH	DC	Multi‑player swap
2019	Vijay Shankar	DC	SRH	Part of Dhawan deal
2019	Shahbaz Nadeem	DC	SRH	Part of Dhawan deal
2019	Abhishek Sharma	DC	SRH	Part of Dhawan deal
2019	Jayant Yadav	DC	MI	Trade
2020	Mayank Markande	MI → DC; then DC → RR	Two successive trades
2020	Sherfane Rutherford	DC	MI	Swap with Markande
2020	R. Ashwin	KXIP	DC	Cash trade
2020	Jagadeesha Suchith	DC	KXIP	Part of Ashwin deal
2020	Trent Boult	DC	MI	Cash trade
2020	Krishnappa Gowtham	RR	KXIP	Swap with Rajpoot
2020	Ankit Rajpoot	KXIP	RR	Swap with Gowtham
2020	Dhawal Kulkarni	RR	MI	Trade
2020	Ajinkya Rahane	RR	DC	Cash trade
2020	Rahul Tewatia	DC	RR	Trade
2020	Siddhesh Lad	MI	KKR	Trade
2021	Daniel Sams	DC	RCB	Trade
2021	Harshal Patel	DC	RCB	Trade
2021	Robin Uthappa	RR	CSK	Cash trade
2023	Jason Behrendorff	RCB	MI	Trade
2023	Lockie Ferguson	GT	KKR	Cash trade
2023	Rahmanullah Gurbaz	GT	KKR	Trade
2023	Shardul Thakur	DC	KKR	Cash trade
2023	Aman Khan	KKR	DC	Swap with Shardul
2024	Romario Shepherd	LSG	MI	Cash trade
2024	Avesh Khan	LSG	RR	Swap with Padikkal
2024	Devdutt Padikkal	RR	LSG	Swap with Avesh
2024	Mayank Dagar	SRH	RCB	Swap with Shahbaz
2024	Shahbaz Ahmed	RCB	SRH	Swap with Dagar
2024	Hardik Pandya	GT	MI	Big‑money cash trade
2024	Cameron Green	MI	RCB	Big‑money cash trade
2026	Shardul Thakur	LSG	MI	Cash trade
2026	Sherfane Rutherford	GT	MI	Cash trade
2026	Sanju Samson	RR	CSK	Part of player swap
2026	Ravindra Jadeja	CSK	RR	Part of Samson swap
2026	Sam Curran	CSK	RR	Part of Samson swap
2026	Arjun Tendulkar	MI	LSG	Cash trade
2026	Mohammed Shami	SRH	LSG	Cash trade
2026	Mayank Markande	KKR	MI	Cash trade
2026	Nitish Rana	RR	DC	Cash trade
2026	Donovan Ferreira	DC	RR	Cash trade

*Season = IPL season the player appeared for their new franchise (most trades are done in the preceding off‑season).

FAQs

How many IPL trades have happened in total?

Across all pre‑season trading windows from 2009–2026, there have been just over 80 official player‑for‑player or cash trades – far fewer than auction signings.

Which IPL team uses the trade window the most?

Mumbai Indians have been among the most active, landing major names like Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult, Hardik Pandya, Cameron Green (out), and several bowlers via IPL trade deals.

Can an IPL player refuse a trade?

Yes. Trades require the consent of the player, the selling franchise and the buying franchise under IPL regulations.

Are mid‑season trades included here?

No. This list covers pre‑season trading windows and off‑season traded players; mid‑tournament “transfer window” loans and temporary replacements are not counted.

Why do teams trade instead of waiting for the auction?

Trades let franchises fill specific roles, manage salary purse space, and avoid bidding wars, often turning under‑used players into starters elsewhere.