IPL 2026 Retention: The IPL 2026 retention news on Saturday really shook things up. Fans couldn’t stop talking some were thrilled, others just stunned. Right out of the gate, the BCCI pulled off a stunner Chennai Super Kings traded Ravindra Jadeja to Rajasthan Royals, and in return, they got Sanju Samson, the Royals’ captain.
Nobody saw that coming. CSK wasn’t done yet. They let go of Sam Curran, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, and a few others. Still, the day’s biggest shocker came from Kolkata Knight Riders. They decided to cut ties with Andre Russell, their star all-rounder, and Venkatesh Iyer, who cost them Rs 23.75 crore. That’s bold.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the defending champs, made their own splash by releasing England’s Liam Livingstone and India’s Mayank Agarwal. But they’re sticking with pacer Yash Dayal, drama and all.
Meanwhile, last year’s runners-up, Punjab Kings, didn’t hold back either they let go of Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, and some other important names.
Mumbai Indians mostly stuck with their tried-and-tested squad, though they did let promising youngster Vignesh Puthur go. Before the retention deadline, MI boosted their line-up by trading in Sherfane Rutherford from Gujarat Titans and Shardul Thakur from Lucknow Super Giants.
Later, they brought back Mayank Markande, the leg-spinner, from Kolkata Knight Riders. Now, with all the retentions and trades sorted, every one of the 10 IPL teams is gearing up for the mini-auction in Abu Dhabi on December 16, and most of them have plenty of cash to play with.
Here’s a look at what each team has left in their purse:
| Team | Purse Remaining (crore) |
|---|---|
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 64.30 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 43.40 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 25.50 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 22.95 |
| Delhi Capitals | 21.80 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 16.40 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 16.05 |
| Gujarat Titans | 12.90 |
| Punjab Kings | 11.50 |
| Mumbai Indians | 2.75 |
List of players released
Kolkata Knight Riders: Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Andre Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande (traded to MI), Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodiya
Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja (traded to RR), Sam Curran (traded to RR), Matheesha Pathirana, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth, Shaikh Rasheed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Rajasthan Royals: Kunal Singh Rathore, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, Sanju Samson (traded to CSK), Nitish Rana (traded to DC)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Liam Livingstone, Swastik Chikara, Tim Seifert, Manoj Bhandage, Lungi Ngidi, Blessing Muzarabani, Mohit Rathee, Mayank Agarwal
Mumbai Indians: Satyanarayana Raju, Vignesh Puthur, Reece Topley, Bevon Jacobs, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Lizaad Williams, Karn Sharma, KL Shrijith, Arjun Tendulkar (traded to Lucknow Super Giants)
Lucknow Super Giants: Aryan Juyal, David Miller, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Akash Deep, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur (traded to MI)
Delhi Capitals: Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sediqullah Atal, Manvanth Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande, Donovan Ferreria (traded to RR)
Gujarat Titans: Dasun Shanaka, Mahipal Lomror, Karim Janat, Gerald Coetzee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Sherfane Rutherford (traded to MI)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhinav Manohar, Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Wiaan Mulder, Simarjeet Singh, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa, Mohammed Shami (traded to LSG)
Punjab Kings: Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Glenn Maxwell, Kuldeep Sen, Praveen Dubey
With the retention window closed, fans can now look forward to some thrilling bidding wars in the mini-auction, as teams aim to fill gaps and strengthen their squads ahead of IPL 2026.
