The IPL 2026 retention deadline has featured some of the biggest squad overhauls in league history, setting up a season defined by bold trades, marquee releases, and a fresh energy across all ten franchises.
All 10 Franchises: Retained and Released Players Of IPL 2026 Retention
Below is a comprehensive breakdown, team by team, of every key retention and release ahead of the 2026 IPL mini-auction.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
- Retained: MS Dhoni (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary
- Released: Matheesha Pathirana, Devon Conway, Ravichandran Ashwin, Deepak Hooda, Rachin Ravindra
- Major Trade: Sanju Samson joins CSK, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran move to Rajasthan Royals.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
- Retained: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult
- Released: Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Gurjapneet Singh, Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Hooda, Ravichandran Ashwin.
- Major Trade: Mayank Markande returns from KKR, Shardul Thakur from LSG, and Sherfane Rutherford from GT.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
- Retained: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood
- Released: Liam Livingstone, Mayank Agarwal, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal, Swapnil Singh
- Salary Purse: Significant boost from release activity.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
- Retained: Shikhar Dhawan, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Shubman Gill
- Released: Harnoor Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
- Retained: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy
- Released: Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik.
- Major Trade: Shardul Thakur traded out, Markande to Mumbai.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
- Retained: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Dhruv Jurel
- Released: Donovan Ferreira, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini
- Major Trade: Sanju Samson to CSK, Jadeja and Curran join RR.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
- Retained: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood
- Released: Ravi Bishnoi, David Miller, Akash Deep, Shamar Joseph
- Major Trade: Mohammed Shami, Arjun Tendulkar join from trades.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
- Retained: Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Tristan Stubbs
- Released: Kusal Mendis, Sherfane Rutherford, Dasun Shanaka
- Major Trade: Nitish Rana joins from Rajasthan.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
- Retained: Heinrich Klaasen, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, T Natarajan
- Released: Mohammad Shami, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar
- Major Trade: Mohammed Shami traded to LSG.
Gujarat Titans (GT)
- Retained: Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan, Matthew Wade, Noor Ahmad
- Released: Sherfane Rutherford, Shardul Thakur
- Major Trade: No major new arrivals.
Major Trades: The Storylines Everyone’s Watching
2026 has seen the most aggressive trade window yet – franchises were bold, moving senior stars for tactical and financial flexibility:
- Sanju Samson to CSK for INR 18 crore: Samson’s blockbuster move to CSK is the season’s biggest talking point, while Ravindra Jadeja (after 12 seasons at CSK) and Sam Curran both head to RR, with Jadeja taking a pay cut.
- Mohammed Shami: Moves from SRH to LSG for INR 10 crore, expected to lead LSG’s pace attack.
- Nitish Rana: Traded to DC from RR for INR 4.2 crore in an all-cash deal, adding depth to the Delhi middle order.
- Other Noteworthy Moves: Shardul Thakur (LSG to MI), Mayank Markande (KKR to MI), Sherfane Rutherford (GT to MI), Arjun Tendulkar (MI to LSG), and Donovan Ferreira returning to RR.
Team Salary Purses after Retentions
Big-name departures and creative trades shaped the salary purse available for each team heading into the mini-auction:
Released Players: Big Names Hit Auction Pool
The IPL 2026 mega auction pool will be star-studded, with several iconic names now up for grabs due to creative team strategies and cost-shedding:
- Andre Russell (KKR)
- Glenn Maxwell (PBKS)
- Venkatesh Iyer (KKR; ₹23.75 crore released)
- Moeen Ali (KKR)
- Liam Livingstone (RCB)
- David Miller (LSG)
- Matheesha Pathirana (CSK)
- Rahul Chahar (SRH)
- Many more across all squads.
Trends and Strategic Takeaways
- Dynamic Trading: This year, teams maximised the trading window to reset cores, swap proven match-winners, and acquire young emergent stars.
- Salary Management: Most franchises have preserved large salary purses for aggressive moves in the mini-auction, indicating a likely bidding war for the likes of Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell, and Venkatesh Iyer.
- Leadership Shifts: With MS Dhoni still retained as captain, CSK signalled trust in experience, though the incoming Sanju Samson may be groomed for a future leadership transition.