IPL 2026 retention: Full list of players retained and released
Know which teams retained and released which players ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction.
Among the 10 IPL cricket teams, Punjab Kings retained the most number of players with 21 while Kolkata Knight Riders kept hold of the least number of players with 12.
KKR released Andre Russell, who has been part of the team since 2014, as well as Venkatesh Iyer, who was the franchise’s most expensive buy in IPL history last season.
Chennai Super Kings are also expected to be active in the upcoming auction, having lost 13 players from last season, including the now-retired Ravichandran Ashwin. MS Dhoni was retained.
Glenn Maxwell, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and Ravi Bishnoi were among the other big names released by their respective teams.
In contrast to the virtual reset that comes with retentions before mega auctions – where only a handful of core players can be held on to – franchises are allowed to retain the bulk of their squads prior to mini auctions, provided they stayed within the INR 120 crore purse and the 18-25 player roster limit.
Reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru have retained 17 players of the champion side from last season, including Virat Kohli.
Several player trades have been confirmed ahead of the IPL 2026 season, leading to notable changes across multiple franchises.
CSK traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to RR for Sanju Samson. Donovan Ferreira also returned to RR from DC in a trade with Nitish Rana.
Shardul Thakur moved to MI from LSG for Arjun Tendulkar. LSG also bolstered their pace battery by bringing in Mohammed Shami via an all-cash trade from SRH.
Similarly, West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford was acquired by MI from GT. Mayank Markande also returned to MI from KKR.
IPL 2026 retention list: Players retained and released
* Overseas players
Chennai Super Kings IPL 2026 retention
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
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 IPL 2026 retention
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
DC released players
- Donovan Ferreira* (SA) – trade out to RR
- Faf du Plessis* (SA)
- Jake Fraser-McGruk* (AUS)
- Sediqullah Atal* (AFG)
- Manvanth Kumar
- Mohit Sharma
- Darshan Nalkande
Gujarat Titans IPL 2026 retention
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
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 IPL 2026 retention
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
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 IPL 2026 retention
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
LSG released players
- Shardul Thakur – trade out to MI
- David Miller* (SA)
- Aryan Juyal
- Yuvraj Chaudhary
- Rajvardhan Hangargekar
- Akash Deep
- Ravi Bishnoi
Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 retention
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
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 IPL 2026 retention
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)
PBKS released players
- Josh Inglis* (AUS)
- Aaron Hardie* (AUS)
- Glenn Maxwell* (AUS)
- Kuldeep Sen
- Praveen Dubey
Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL 2026 retentions
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
RCB released players
- Mayank Agarwal
- Swastik Chhikara
- Tim Seifert* (NZ)
- Liam Livingstone* (ENG)
- Manoj Bhandage
- Lungi Ngidi* (SA)
- Mohit Rathee
Rajasthan Royals IPL 2026 retention
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
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 IPL 2026 retention
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
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)
FAQ
1. What is IPL 2026 retention?
IPL 2026 retention refers to the process where teams retain certain players from their previous squads before entering the mini auction. Franchises must stay within the INR 120 crore purse and maintain the 18–25 player roster limit.
2. Which team retained the most players in IPL 2026?
Punjab Kings (PBKS) retained the most with 21 players.
3. Which team retained the least number of players?
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) retained only 12 players, the lowest among all teams.
4. Who are the biggest names released ahead of the IPL 2026 auction?
Major released names include:
Andre Russell (KKR)
Venkatesh Iyer (KKR)
Glenn Maxwell (PBKS)
Faf du Plessis (DC)
Quinton de Kock (KKR)
Ravi Bishnoi (LSG)
Rachin Ravindra (CSK)
Devon Conway (CSK)
5. Was MS Dhoni retained by Chennai Super Kings?
Yes, MS Dhoni was retained by CSK for IPL 2026.
6. Which major players were traded before IPL 2026?
Top trade moves include:
Ravindra Jadeja & Sam Curran → RR (from CSK)
Sanju Samson → CSK (from RR)
Shardul Thakur → MI (from LSG)
Mohammed Shami → LSG (from SRH)
Sherfane Rutherford → MI (from GT)
Mayank Markande → MI (from KKR)
7. Which team looks the strongest based on retention?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) retained 17 players, including Virat Kohli and Tim David, maintaining core stability after winning last season.
8. Why did KKR release Andre Russell after a long stint?
KKR opted for a squad rebuild, moving away from long-term big-budget foreign stars and prioritizing balance over power-hitting dependence.
9. How many players did Chennai Super Kings release?
CSK released 13 players, including:
Rachin Ravindra
Devon Conway
Sam Curran (trade)
Jadeja (trade)
Ravichandran Ashwin (retired)
10. Which team made the biggest trade impact?
Mumbai Indians (MI) strengthened with:
Shardul Thakur
Sherfane Rutherford
Mayank Markande
and retained their main core including Hardik, Rohit, and Bumrah.
11. How many overseas players were released overall?
Several high-profile overseas stars were let go, signaling a major shuffle:
Glenn Maxwell
Quinton de Kock
Anrich Nortje
Faf du Plessis
Moeen Ali
Matheesha Pathirana
Devon Conway
12. When is the IPL 2026 mini auction scheduled?
The auction is expected in December 2025, just months before the 2026 tournament, with official confirmation awaited.
13. Can teams still trade players after retention?
Yes, player trading windows remain active until just before the auction.
