IPL 2026 Full List of Retained and Released Players: The retention deadline for the IPL 2026 season closed on Saturday, 15 November, with Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders emerging as the teams with the most significant reshuffles. Both sides released several marquee players, adding intrigue to the upcoming mini-auction scheduled for 16 December in Abu Dhabi. All 10 franchises submitted their retained and released lists, concluding weeks of speculation across the league.
IPL Teams Take Surprising Calls
The Indian Premier League earlier confirmed eight trades before the official broadcaster unveiled the complete retention lists. Among the biggest shocks was Kolkata Knight Riders’ decision to part ways with Andre Russell, one of their most defining match-winners. KKR retained Ajinkya Rahane, who remains the likely captain in case the franchise does not land a marquee leader at the auction.
Chennai Super Kings also made unexpected moves, releasing Matheesha Pathirana, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. Kolkata moved on from Andre Russell, Quinton de Kock and Venkatesh Iyer, while Lucknow Super Giants allowed star spinner Ravi Bishnoi to return to the auction pool.
With the auction nearing, franchises have begun refining their core groups, balancing between retaining proven performers and freeing up purse space for strategic upgrades. While many retentions were straightforward, several exclusions have raised questions.
FULL IPL 2026 RETENTION LISTS
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Retained Players
Ruturaj Gaikwad
MS Dhoni
Dewald Brevis* (SA)
Ayush Mhatre
Urvil Patel
Anshul Kamboj
Jamie Overton* (ENG)
Ramakrishna Ghosh
Shivam Dube
Khaleel Ahmed
Noor Ahmad* (AFG)
Mukesh Choudhary
Nathan Ellis* (AUS)
Shreyas Gopal
Gurjapneet Singh
Sanju Samson – trade-in from RR
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Released Players
Ravindra Jadeja – trade-out to RR
Sam Curran* (ENG) – trade-out to RR
Rahul Tripathi
Vansh Bedi
Andre Siddarth
Rachin Ravindra* (NZ)
Deepak Hooda
Vijay Shankar
Shaik Rasheed
Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Matheesha Pathirana* (SL)
Devon Conway* (NZ)
Ravichandran Ashwin (retired)
Delhi Capitals (DC) Retained Players
KL Rahul
Karun Nair
Abishek Porel
Tristan Stubbs* (SA)
Axar Patel
Sameer Rizvi
Ashutosh Sharma
Vipraj Nigam
Ajay Mandal
Tripurana Vijay
Madhav Tiwari
Mitchell Starc* (AUS)
T. Natarajan
Mukesh Kumar
Dushmantha Chameera* (SL)
Kuldeep Yadav
Nitish Rana – trade-in from RR
Delhi Capitals (DC) Released Players
Donovan Ferreira* (SA) – trade-out to RR
Faf du Plessis* (SA)
Jake Fraser-McGurk* (AUS)
Sediqullah Atal* (AFG)
Manvanth Kumar
Mohit Sharma
Darshan Nalkande
Gujarat Titans (GT) Retained Players
Shubman Gill
Sai Sudharsan
Kumar Kushagra
Anuj Rawat
Jos Buttler* (ENG)
Nishant Sindhu
Glenn Phillips* (NZ)
Washington Sundar
Arshad Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Rahul Tewatia
Kagiso Rabada* (SA)
Mohammed Siraj
Prasidh Krishna
Ishant Sharma
Gurnoor Singh Brar
Rashid Khan* (AFG)
Manav Suthar
Sai Kishore
Jayant Yadav
Gujarat Titans (GT) Released Players
Sherfane Rutherford* (WI) – trade-out to MI
Mahipal Lomror
Karim Janat* (AFG)
Dasun Shanaka* (SL)
Gerald Coetzee* (SA)
Kulwant Khejroliya
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Retained Players
Ajinkya Rahane
Rinku Singh
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Manish Pandey
Rovman Powell* (WI)
Anukul Roy
Ramandeep Singh
Vaibhav Arora
Sunil Narine* (WI)
Varun Chakaravarthy
Harshit Rana
Umran Malik
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Released Players
Mayank Markande – trade-out to MI
Andre Russell* (WI)
Venkatesh Iyer
Quinton de Kock* (SA)
Anrich Nortje* (SA)
Luvnith Sisodia
Rahmanullah Gurbaz* (AFG)
Moeen Ali* (ENG)
Chetan Sakariya
Spencer Johnson* (AUS)
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Retained Players
Rishabh Pant
Ayush Badoni
Abdul Samad
Aiden Markram* (SA)
Himmat Singh
Matthew Breetzke* (SA)
Nicholas Pooran* (WI)
Mitchell Marsh* (AUS)
Shahbaz Ahamad
Arshin Kulkarni
Mayank Yadav
Avesh Khan
Mohsin Khan
M. Siddharth
Digvesh Rathi
Prince Yadav
Akash Singh
Arjun Tendulkar – trade-in from MI
Mohammed Shami – trade-in from SRH
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Released Players
Shardul Thakur – trade-out to MI
David Miller* (SA)
Aryan Juyal
Yuvraj Chaudhary
Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Akash Deep
Ravi Bishnoi
Mumbai Indians (MI) Retained Players
Rohit Sharma
Surya Kumar Yadav
Robin Minz
Ryan Rickelton* (SA)
Tilak Varma
Hardik Pandya
Naman Dhir
Mitchell Santner* (NZ)
Will Jacks* (AUS)
Corbin Bosch* (SA)
Raj Bawa
Trent Boult* (NZ)
Jasprit Bumrah
Deepak Chahar
Ashwani Kumar
Raghu Sharma
Allah Ghazanfar* (AFG)
Mayank Markande – trade-in from KKR
Shardul Thakur – trade-in from LSG
Sherfane Rutherford* (WI) – trade-in from GT
Mumbai Indians (MI) Released Players
Arjun Tendulkar – trade-out to LSG
Satyanarayana Raju
Reece Topley* (ENG)
KL Shrijith
Karn Sharma
Bevon Jacobs* (SA)
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman* (AFG)
Lizaad Williams* (SA)
Vignesh Puthur
Punjab Kings (PBKS) Retained Players
Shreyas Iyer
Nehal Wadhera
Vishnu Vinod
Harnoor Pannu
Pyla Avinash
Prabhsimran Singh
Shashank Singh
Marcus Stoinis* (AUS)
Harpreet Brar
Marco Jansen* (SA)
Azmatullah Omarzai* (AFG)
Priyansh Arya
Musheer Khan
Suryansh Shedge
Mitch Owen* (AUS)
Arshdeep Singh
Yuzvendra Chahal
Vyshak Vijaykumar
Yash Thakur
Xavier Bartlett* (AUS)
Lockie Ferguson* (NZ)
Punjab Kings (PBKS) Released Players
Josh Inglis* (AUS)
Aaron Hardie* (AUS)
Glenn Maxwell* (AUS)
Kuldeep Sen
Praveen Dubey
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Retained Players
Rajat Patidar
Virat Kohli
Tim David* (AUS)
Devdutt Padikkal
Phil Salt* (ENG)
Jitesh Sharma
Krunal Pandya
Jacob Bethell* (ENG)
Romario Shepherd* (WI)
Swapnil Singh
Josh Hazlewood* (AUS)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Rasikh Salam
Yash Dayal
Suyash Sharma
Nuwan Thushara* (SL)
Abhinandan Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Released Players
Mayank Agarwal
Swastik Chhikara
Tim Seifert* (NZ)
Liam Livingstone* (ENG)
Manoj Bhandage
Lungi Ngidi* (SA)
Mohit Rathee
Rajasthan Royals (RR) Retained Players
Shubham Dubey
Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Lhuan-dre Pretorius* (SA)
Shimron Hetmyer* (WI)
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Dhruv Jurel
Riyan Parag
Yudhvir Singh Charak
Jofra Archer* (ENG)
Tushar Deshpande
Fazalhaq Farooqi* (AFG)
Kwena Maphaka* (SA)
Nandre Burger* (SA)
Ravindra Jadeja – trade-in from CSK
Sam Curran* (ENG) – trade-in from CSK
Donovan Ferreira* (SA) – trade-in from DC
Rajasthan Royals (RR) Released Players
Sanju Samson – trade-out to CSK
Nitish Rana – trade-out to DC
Kunal Singh Rathore
Maheesh Theekshana* (SL)
Wanindu Hasaranga* (SL)
Fazalhaq Farooqi* (AFG)
Akash Madhwal
Kumar Kartikeya
Ashok Sharma
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Retained Players
Travis Head* (AUS)
Abhishek Sharma
Aniket Verma
R Smaran
Ishan Kishan
Heinrich Klaasen* (SA)
Nitish Kumar Reddy
Harsh Dubey
Kamindu Mendis* (SL)
Harshal Patel
Brydon Carse* (ENG)
Pat Cummins* (AUS)
Jaydev Unadkat
Eshan Malinga* (SL)
Zeeshan Ansari
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Released Players
Mohammad Shami – trade-out to LSG
Abhinav Manohar
Atharva Taide
Sachin Baby
Wiaan Mulder* (SA)
Simarjeet Singh
Rahul Chahar
Adam Zampa* (AUS)
IPL 2026 Purse Balance and Remaining Slots
KKR: ₹64.3 crore (13 slots)
CSK: ₹43.4 crore (9 slots)
SRH: ₹25.5 crore (10 slots)
LSG: ₹22.95 crore (6 slots)
DC: ₹21.8 crore (8 slots)
RCB: ₹16.4 crore (8 slots)
RR: ₹16.05 crore (9 slots)
GT: ₹12.9 crore (5 slots)
PBKS: ₹11.5 crore (4 slots)
MI: ₹2.75 crore (5 slots)
Also Read: IPL 2026: Gujarat Titans Complete List Of Retained, Released Players, And Other Details
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
