Hardik, Arshdeep, Rishabh and Kuldeep are among the big names involved in major IPL trades ahead of the 2027 season. From blockbuster exchanges to surprise transfers, a look at the biggest player swaps in IPL trade history.
The IPL trade market is already witnessing major shake-ups ahead of the 2027 season, with Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh set to swap franchises and Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav also heading in opposite directions. It follows a busy 2026 trade window, headlined by the high-profile deal that sent Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings, with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran moving to Rajasthan Royals. The story goes back to 2009, when Zaheer Khan moved from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Mumbai Indians in a swap involving Robin Uthappa. Since then, the league has seen some surprising deals – Shikhar Dhawan’s three-player exchange in 2018, Ravichandran Ashwin’s move from Kings XI Punjab to Delhi Capitals in 2020, and Mayank Markande being traded twice in the same window.
But big trades are nothing new in the IPL. Some moves have proved masterstrokes, like Trent Boult’s arrival at Mumbai Indians, while others have failed to deliver. Here is a look at the biggest IPL trades and the deals that have shaped the league’s history.
The Hardik Pandya-Arshdeep Singh swap is the latest to grab attention, with two India internationals heading in opposite directions ahead of the 2027 season. Season Trade 1 2027 Hardik Pandya (MI → PBKS) ↔ Arshdeep Singh (PBKS → MI) 2 2026 Sanju Samson (RR → CSK) ↔ Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran (CSK → RR) 3 2024 Hardik Pandya (GT → MI) 4 2027 Rishabh Pant (LSG → DC) ↔ Kuldeep Yadav (DC → LSG) 5 2024 Cameron Green (MI → RCB) 6 2019 Shikhar Dhawan (SRH → DC) 7 2020 Ravichandran Ashwin (KXIP → DC) 8 2020 Trent Boult (DC → MI) 9 2009 Zaheer Khan (RCB → MI) ↔ Robin Uthappa (MI → RCB) 10 2013 Ross Taylor (DD → PWI) ↔ Ashish Nehra (PWI → DD) Apart from the -Arshdeep, Pant-Kuldeep swap, The window has also seen T Natarajan returning to Sunrisers Hyderabad from Delhi, while Zeeshan Ansari has moved to the Capitals. Chennai Super Kings and SRH have completed a four-player exchange involving Liam Livingstone, Jack Edwards, Khaleel Ahmed and Nathan Ellis, with Livingstone’s fee revised to Rs 6 crore. Player Previous franchise New franchise Nature of Deal Hardik Pandya MI PBKS ₹18 crore, revised from ₹16.35 crore Arshdeep Singh PBKS MI ₹18 crore, existing Rishabh Pant LSG DC ₹15 crore, revised Kuldeep Yadav DC LSG ₹13.5 crore, existing T Natarajan DC SRH ₹5 crore, revised Zeeshan Ansari SRH DC ₹40 lakh, existing Liam Livingstone SRH CSK ₹6 crore, revised from ₹13 crore Jack Edwards SRH CSK ₹3 crore, existing Khaleel Ahmed CSK SRH ₹4.8 crore, existing Nathan Ellis CSK SRH ₹2 crore, existing The 2026 trading window was headlined by a three-player exchange between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. Samson retained his Rs 18 crore fee, while Jadeja’s fee was revised to Rs 14 crore and Curran retained Rs 2.4 crore. Player From To Nature of Deal Sanju Samson Rajasthan Royals CSK Player swap – 3-player exchange; ₹18 crore (existing contract) Ravindra Jadeja CSK Rajasthan Royals Player swap – 3-player exchange; ₹14 crore (revised from ₹18 crore) Sam Curran CSK Rajasthan Royals Player swap – 3-player exchange; ₹2.4 crore (existing contract) Mohammed Shami SRH LSG All-cash trade; ₹10 crore (existing contract) Mayank Markande KKR MI All-cash trade; ₹30 lakh (existing contract) Arjun Tendulkar MI LSG All-cash trade’ ₹30 lakh (existing contract) Nitish Rana Rajasthan Royals Delhi Capitals All-cash trade; ₹4.2 crore (existing contract) Donovan Ferreira Delhi Capitals Rajasthan Royals All-cash trade; ₹1 crore (revised from ₹75 lakh) Shardul Thakur LSG MI All-cash trade; ₹2 crore (existing contract) Sherfane Rutherford Gujarat Titans MI All-cash trade; ₹2.6 crore (existing contract) Hardik Pandya’s return to Mumbai Indians was the headline move ahead of the 2024 season. Hardik joined Mumbai from Gujarat Titans at his existing league fee of Rs 15 crore, returning to the franchise where he began his IPL career after leading Gujarat to a title and a runners-up finish. Cameron Green moved from Mumbai to Royal Challengers Bangalore at his existing fee of Rs 17.5 crore. Player From To Nature of deal Romario Shepherd Lucknow Super Giants MI Trade Avesh Khan Lucknow Super Giants Rajasthan Royals Swap involving Devdutt Padikkal Devdutt Padikkal Rajasthan Royals Lucknow Super Giants Swap involving Avesh Mayank Dagar SRH RCB Swap involving Shahbaz Ahmed Shahbaz Ahmed RCB SRH Swap involving Dagar Hardik Pandya Gujarat Titans MI All-cash trade; existing ₹15 crore fee Cameron Green MI RCB All-cash trade; existing ₹17.5 crore fee Kolkata Knight Riders were among the most active franchises ahead of the 2023 season, bringing in Lockie Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz from Gujarat Titans, along with Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals Jason Behrendorff RCB MI Trade Lockie Ferguson Gujarat Titans KKR All-cash trade; reported ₹10 crore Rahmanullah Gurbaz Gujarat Titans KKR Trade Shardul Thakur Delhi Capitals KKR All-cash trade; reported ₹10.75 crore Aman Khan KKR Delhi Capitals Part of Shardul exchange The trading activity ahead of the 2021 season featured three notable movements. Player From To Nature of deal Robin Uthappa Rajasthan Royals CSK Trade Harshal Patel Delhi Capitals RCB Trade Daniel Sams Delhi Capitals RCB Trade The trading window ahead of the 2020 season featured several player movements across franchises. Player From To Nature of deal Mayank Markande MI Delhi Capitals Trade Sherfane Rutherford Delhi Capitals MI Trade Ravichandran Ashwin Kings XI Punjab Delhi Capitals Cash consideration reported; ₹7.6 crore Jagadeesha Suchith Delhi Capitals Kings XI Punjab Part of Ashwin deal Ankit Rajpoot Kings XI Punjab Rajasthan Royals Swap involving Krishnappa Gowtham Krishnappa Gowtham Rajasthan Royals Kings XI Punjab Swap involving Ankit Rajpoot Trent Boult Delhi Capitals MI Reported ₹2.2 crore Ajinkya Rahane Rajasthan Royals Delhi Capitals Multi-player exchange Mayank Markande Delhi Capitals Rajasthan Royals Part of Rahane deal Rahul Tewatia Delhi Capitals Rajasthan Royals Part of Rahane deal Dhawal Kulkarni Rajasthan Royals MI Trade Siddhesh Lad MI KKR Trade Mumbai Indians strengthened their squad with two transfers announced ahead of the 2019 season, bringing in Quinton de Kock from Royal Challengers Bangalore and Jayant Yadav from Delhi Capitals. Player From To Nature of deal Quinton de Kock RCB MI Reported all-cash trade; ₹2.8 crore Jayant Yadav Delhi Capitals MI Trade Rising Pune Supergiant made two notable acquisitions ahead of the 2017 season, bringing in Mayank Agarwal from Delhi Daredevils and Shardul Thakur from Kings XI Punjab. Player From To Nature of deal Iqbal Abdulla Rajasthan Royals RCB Trade Manvinder Bisla KKR RCB Trade Parthiv Patel RCB MI Trade Unmukt Chand Rajasthan Royals MI Trade R Vinay Kumar KKR MI Trade Mandeep Singh Kings XI Punjab RCB Trade Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines The Ross Taylor-Ashish Nehra exchange was the standout transaction ahead of the 2013 season.
The IPL has seen some big names switch sides over the years, and a few of those deals have had a major impact on the teams involved. The Sanju Samson-Ravindra Jadeja-Sam Curran deal is another big one, while Hardik’s return to Mumbai Indians and Cameron Green’s move to RCB also stand out. There have been several other interesting moves, including Rishabh Pant’s return to Delhi, Shikhar Dhawan’s multi-player deal and Ashwin’s move to Delhi. We also go back to some of the early swaps involving Zaheer Khan, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor and Ashish Nehra. Sanju Samson moved to CSK, while Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran joined Rajasthan. Robin Uthappa moved from Rajasthan Royals to Chennai Super Kings, while Harshal Patel and Daniel Sams joined Royal Challengers Bangalore from Delhi Capitals. Mumbai Indians brought in Sherfane Rutherford from Delhi Capitals and Dhawal Kulkarni from Rajasthan Royals, while Mayank Markande moved from Mumbai to Delhi before joining Rajasthan. Player From To Nature of deal Mayank Agarwal Delhi Daredevils Rising Pune Supergiant Trade Shardul Thakur Kings XI Punjab Rising Pune Supergiant Trade Player From To Nature of deal Kedar Jadhav Delhi Daredevils RCB Trade RCB acquired Iqbal Abdulla from Rajasthan Royals, Manvinder Bisla from Kolkata Knight Riders and Mandeep Singh from Kings XI Punjab. Mumbai brought in Parthiv Patel from Bangalore, Unmukt Chand from Rajasthan and R Vinay Kumar from Kolkata. Taylor moved from Delhi Daredevils to Pune Warriors India, while Nehra travelled in the opposite direction. Player From To Nature of deal Ross Taylor Delhi Daredevils Pune Warriors India Swap for Ashish Nehra Ashish Nehra Pune Warriors India Delhi Daredevils Swap for Ross Taylor T Suman MI Pune Warriors India Trade Dinesh Karthik moved from Kings XI Punjab to Mumbai Indians, while Rajagopal Sathish went the other way. Deccan Chargers saw several departures, with Harmeet Singh joining Punjab, Kevin Pietersen moving to Delhi Daredevils and Pragyan Ojha heading to Mumbai Player From To Nature of deal Dinesh Karthik Kings XI Punjab MI Trade Rajagopal Sathish MI Kings XI Punjab Trade Harmeet Singh Deccan Chargers Kings XI Punjab Trade Kevin Pietersen Deccan Chargers Delhi Daredevils Trade Andrew McDonald Delhi Daredevils RCB Trade Pragyan Ojha Deccan Chargers MI Trade James Hopes Delhi Daredevils Pune Warriors India Trade Ashok Dinda Delhi Daredevils Pune Warriors India Trade Shreevats Goswami KKR Rajasthan Royals Trade Ross Taylor Rajasthan Royals Delhi Daredevils Trade Moises Henriques moved from Kolkata to Delhi, while Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary travelled in the opposite direction. Unlike a conventional two-player swap, the activity involved three separate transfers between the franchises. Player From To Nature of deal Moises Henriques KKR Delhi Daredevils Trade Owais Shah Delhi Daredevils KKR Trade Manoj Tiwary Delhi Daredevils KKR Trade The IPL’s early trading activity featured some significant exchanges between franchises. Zaheer Khan moved from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Mumbai Indians, with Robin Uthappa heading the other way. Another direct swap saw Ashish Nehra move from Mumbai to Delhi Daredevils, while Shikhar Dhawan joined Mumbai. Player From To Nature of deal Zaheer Khan RCB MI Swap for Robin Uthappa Robin Uthappa MI RCB Swap for Zaheer Khan Ashish Nehra MI Delhi Daredevils Swap for Shikhar Dhawan Shikhar Dhawan Delhi Daredevils MI Swap for Ashish Nehra Jaydev Shah Rajasthan Royals MI Three-franchise transaction Gaurav Dhiman MI RCB Three-franchise transaction Pankaj Singh Rajasthan Royals RCB Three-franchise transaction Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.