The Indian Premier League (IPL) is known for its thrilling auctions, where franchises make huge bucks to recruit star players. However, there is another significant aspect of IPL team formation that tends to go undetected and it is the IPL trade window. While the auction is getting all the headlines, trade window is providing teams an opportunity in secret to address issues in their squad prior to a new season. It allows franchises to trade or purchase players ahead of the auction, enabling them to have some mobility to build their lineups. One of the biggest recent instances was prior to the IPL 2024 auction, when Hardik Pandya moved back to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans in a record trade. This also set off Cameron Green's swap from MI to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. What is the IPL Trade Window? The IPL trade window is a trading window during which teams can exchange or buy players directly from other teams. It occurs in two stages: First Phase: Begins seven days after the IPL finishes and lasts until a week prior to the auction. Second Phase: Begins subsequent to the auction and lasts until 30 days prior to the beginning of the new season. Also Read | 3 Teams That Could Target Sanju Samson in IPL 2026 Trade After CSK Pulls Out Types of Trades Player Swap: Straight swapping of players between teams. No money exchanges hands. All-Cash Deal: Purchase team pays the selling team the entire player value. Trade + Transfer Fee: An exchange of a player along with an agreed fee. Full List of All IPL Trade Deals from 2009 to 2024 Year Player From To Type Details 2009 Robin Uthappa MI RCB Player swap Zaheer Khan moved to MI 2009 Zaheer Khan RCB MI Player swap Part of Uthappa deal 2009 Ashish Nehra MI DD Player swap Shikhar Dhawan moved to MI 2009 Shikhar Dhawan DD MI Player swap Nehra moved to DD 2012 Dinesh Karthik PBKS MI Cash deal – 2013 Ross Taylor DC PWI Cash deal – 2015 Parthiv Patel RCB MI Cash deal – 2015 Manvinder Bisla KKR RCB Cash deal – 2015 Unmukt Chand – MI Cash deal – 2015 Vinay Kumar – MI Cash deal – 2015 Michael Hussey MI Released Released Squad space clearance 2015 Praveen Kumar MI Released Released Squad space clearance 2016 Kedar Jadhav DC RCB Player swap – 2019 Mandeep Singh RCB PBKS Player swap Traded with Marcus Stoinis 2019 Marcus Stoinis PBKS RCB Player swap Traded with Mandeep Singh 2019 Shikhar Dhawan SRH DC Player swap + cash Traded for Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Nadeem 2019 Ravichandran Ashwin PBKS DC Cash deal ₹7.6 crore 2019 Ajinkya Rahane RR DC Player swap Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia to RR 2019 Trent Boult DC MI Cash deal ₹3.20 crore 2020 Robin Uthappa RR CSK Cash deal – 2020 Harshal Patel DC RCB Player swap Along with Daniel Sams 2020 Daniel Sams DC RCB Player swap Along with Harshal Patel 2022 Shardul Thakur DC KKR Cash deal ₹10.75 crore 2023 Jason Behrendorff RCB MI Cash deal – 2023 Romario Shepherd LSG MI Cash deal ₹50 lakh 2023 Avesh Khan LSG RR Player swap For Devdutt Padikkal 2023 Devdutt Padikkal RR LSG Player swap For Avesh Khan 2024 Hardik Pandya GT MI Cash deal ₹15 crore approx 2024 Cameron Green MI RCB Cash deal ₹17.5 crore Also Read | 3 Teams That Should Target Liam Livingstone if RCB Release Him Before IPL 2026 Why the Trade Window is Important The trade window assists teams with: Strengthening weak areas without having to wait for the auction. Exchanging players that do not suit their immediate plans. Budgeting more effectively. Though it may lack the theatre of the auction, most significant transactions such as Pandya's transfer have redefined IPL teams and seasons.