IPL 2026 retention list : An off field KKR vs CSK clash beckons as teams head into an intriguing mini auction.

One of the most surprising things on the retention day ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction was KKR releasing Andre Russell. This, in all probability marks the end of a fruitful partnership between player and franchise, a partnership that went beyond the cricketing field. 

Russell’s release means that KKR enter the mini auction with a whopping 64 crores. Cameron Green and Jamie Smith, who are hot favourites, will be targeted by the three time IPL champions. Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali and Spencer Johnson are some of the other players released by KKR and it’s imperative that there will be a revamp in the mini auction.

Apart from KKR, the Chennai Super Kings have been in the news as well. The Samson- Jadeja- Curran has been in the news and the arrival of Samson means that Dhoni’s partnership with CSK is about to reach the end. They followed up the high-profile Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran trade by releasing Matheesha Pathirana and the New Zealand pair of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, while Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi and Vijay Shankar were also among their major releases. CSK can now fill up to nine slots, including four overseas and go into the auction with 4 crores.

The Delhi Capitals released a host of players too including Faf Du Plessis and Jake Fraser McGurk. Surprisingly, they have kept faith in their INR 10.75 Crore buy - T Natarajan - despite the left-arm seamer featuring in only two matches for them last season. But with FAF leaving, KL Rahul will be their prime choice to open. They also have traded Donovan Ferrera for Nitish Rana, and considering their batting line up, this is as good as a steal deal.

The Lucknow super giants too have released David Miller and traded Shardul Thakur to Mumbai Indians. Shamar Joseph and Ravi Bishnoi too have been released, with Bishnoi being purely unlucky. They will target David Miller, as they need a lower order hitter to back up a “KADAK”(robust) top order. 

Gujarat titans played it very safe this auction and they don’t need anything but a lower order finisher again to stabilise their side. Gerald Coetzee, Dasun Shanaka, Mahipal Lomror, Karim Janat and Kulwant Khejroliya were the players released. This has left them with a purse of INR 12.9 Crore and five slots, including four overseas.

The Punjab Kings too made headlines when they released Josh Inglis. He was instrumental in getting them to the finals and his release meant they need a strong backup in the auction. Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen and Praveen Dubey were released to secure a purse of INR 11.5 Crore, with four slots (two overseas) available for them.

Rajasthan Royals too have their team set with the arrival of Jadeja and Curran. They give them a solid back up in the lower middle order as they back up a more solid top order. They will miss the services of Sanju Samson in the keeping department but Dhruv Jurel’s rise has benefited a lot for RR. Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana. Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Kumar Kartikeya were the other players released by RR, who now have a purse of INR 16.05 Cr with nine slots available (one overseas).

With INR 25.5 Crore, Sunrisers Hyderabad have the third largest purse as they released eight players from their squad. Mohammed Shami, traded to Lucknow Super Giants, was their biggest move, while they also parted ways with Adam Zampa, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Chahar and Wiaan Mulder among others.

The team that has nothing to do with the auction is Mumbai Indians. They have 2.75 crores left and they need only a spinner probably, for backup as they have the most enviable squad of the 10 teams.Reece Topley, Bevon Jacobs, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Lizaad Williams, Karn Sharma, KL Shrijith and Arjun Tendulkar (traded to LSG) were a couple of players released, but that hardly affects the balance of the squad.

And finally the defending champions. RCB have managed to release Liam Livingstone and that hardly comes as a surprise. Tim Seifert, Lungi Ngidi and Mayank Agarwal were the other players that were released and RCB now have eight slots free, including two overseas, hoping that they get the backups they want in the auction to become the third team after Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to defend their IPL title.

Here are the updated squads of all the franchises after the retention announcement.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

16 players retained | 4 overseas | Total spent: ₹81.60 cr | Cap remaining: ₹43.40 cr

Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Jamie Overton, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmad, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sanju Samson (T), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel.

Delhi Capitals (DC)

17 players retained | 3 overseas | Total spent: ₹103.20 cr | Cap remaining: ₹21.80 cr

Abhishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, Nitish Rana (T), Sameer Rizvi, T. Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, *Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam.

Gujarat Titans (GT)

20 players retained | 4 overseas | Total spent: ₹112.10cr  | Cap remaining: ₹12.90 cr

Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammad Siraj, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R. Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

12 players retained | 2 overseas | Total spent: ₹60.70cr | Cap remaining: ₹64.30cr

Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

19 players retained | 4 overseas | Total spent: ₹102.05 cr | Cap remaining: ₹22.95 cr

Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar (T), Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav, Md Shami (T), Mitchell Marsh, Mohsin Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shahbaz Ahmed.

Mumbai Indians (MI)

20 players retained | 7 overseas | Total spent: ₹122.25 cr  | Cap remaining: ₹2.75 cr

Allah Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande (T), Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Shardul Thakur (T), Sherfane Rutherford (T), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Trent Boult, *Will Jacks

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

21 players retained | 6 overseas | Total spent: ₹113.50 cr | Cap remaining: ₹11.50 cr

Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Owen, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

16 players retained | 7 overseas | Total spent: ₹108.95 cr | Cap remaining: ₹16.05 cr

Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira (T), Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-Dre Pretorious, Nandre Burger, Ravindra Jadeja (T), Riyan Parag, Sam Curran (T), Sandeep Sharma, *Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Charak.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

17 players retained | 6 overseas | Total spent: ₹108.60 cr | Cap remaining: ₹16.40cr

Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

15 players retained | 6 overseas | Total spent: ₹99.50 cr | Cap remaining: ₹25.50 cr

Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma,Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, Smaran Ravichandaran, Travis Head, Zeeshan Ansari.