The first retention after the mega auction in 2025 is done. Ten franchises retained a total of 173 cricketers, spending Rs 1012.45 Crore from the existing purse. With the IPL 2026 Auction set for December 16 in Anu Dhabi, IPL 2026 retention phase has set the stage for the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League. The franchises strategically locked in core players while releasing others to bolster their auction purses. As teams finalize their IPL 2026 retention lists, the focus remains on balancing experience, youth, and budget constraints.
From blockbuster trades like Ravindra Jadeja’s return to Rajasthan Royals and Sanju Samson’s move to Chennai Super Kings, to surprise releases such as Andre Russell from Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL 2026 retention drama has fans buzzing. With a total of 173 players retained across all teams and a combined purse of ₹237.55 crore up for grabs, the stage is set for a transformative IPL 2026 season.
IPL 2026 Retained Players List (Team-Wise)
Franchises have retained a mix of proven performers and emerging talents, adhering to the IPL 2026 retention guidelines that allow unlimited retentions within the ₹120 crore salary cap and a maximum squad size of 25. Below is the team-wise IPL 2026 retention list, including player roles, nationalities, and salaries.
CSK Retained Players List
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS Dhoni | WK-Batter | India | 4.00 |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | Batter | India | 18.00 |
| Sanju Samson (Trade in) | WK-Batter | India | 18.00 |
| Shivam Dube | All-Rounder | India | 12.00 |
| Dewald Brevis | Batter | South Africa | 2.20 |
| Ayush Mhatre | Batter | India | 0.30 |
| Urvil Patel | WK-Batter | India | 0.30 |
| Jamie Overton | All-Rounder | England | 1.50 |
| Nathan Ellis | Bowler | Australia | 2.00 |
| Noor Ahmad | Bowler | Afghanistan | 10.00 |
| Khaleel Ahmed | Bowler | India | 4.80 |
| Anshul Kamboj | Bowler | India | 3.40 |
| Gurjapneet Singh | Bowler | India | 2.20 |
| Mukesh Choudhary | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Shreyas Gopal | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Ramakrishna Ghosh | All-Rounder | India | 0.30 |
MI Retained Players List
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | Batter | India | 16.30 |
| Hardik Pandya | All-Rounder | India | 16.35 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Batter | India | 16.35 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler | India | 18.00 |
| Trent Boult | Bowler | New Zealand | 12.50 |
| Tilak Varma | Batter | India | 8.00 |
| Will Jacks | Batter | England | 5.25 |
| Naman Dhir | All-Rounder | India | 5.25 |
| Deepak Chahar | Bowler | India | 9.25 |
| Sherfane Rutherford (Trade in) | Batter | West Indies | 2.60 |
| Shardul Thakur (Trade in) | All-Rounder | India | 2.00 |
| Robin Minz | WK-Batter | India | 0.65 |
| Ryan Rickleton | WK-Batter | South Africa | 1.00 |
| Mitchell Santner | All-Rounder | New Zealand | 2.00 |
| Corbin Bosch | Bowler | South Africa | 0.75 |
| Allah Ghafanzar | All-Rounder | Afghanistan | 4.80 |
| Ashwani Kumar | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Raghu Sharma | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Raj Angad Bawa | All-Rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Mayank Markande (Trade in) | All-Rounder | India | 0.30 |
KKR Retained Players List
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunil Narine | All-Rounder | West Indies | 12.00 |
| Varun Chakaravarthy | Bowler | India | 12.00 |
| Rinku Singh | Batter | India | 13.00 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Batter | India | 1.50 |
| Manish Pandey | Batter | India | 0.75 |
| Harshit Rana | Bowler | India | 4.00 |
| Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Batter | India | 3.00 |
| Rovman Powell | Batter | West Indies | 1.50 |
| Ramandeep Singh | All-Rounder | India | 4.00 |
| Anukul Roy | All-Rounder | India | 0.40 |
| Vaibhav Arora | Bowler | India | 1.80 |
| Umran Malik | Bowler | India | 0.75 |
SRH Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heinrich Klaasen | WK-Batter | South Africa | 23.00 |
| Pat Cummins | Bowler | Australia | 18.00 |
| Travis Head | Batter | Australia | 14.00 |
| Abhishek Sharma | Batter | India | 14.00 |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | All-Rounder | India | 6.00 |
| Harshal Patel | Bowler | India | 8.00 |
| Ishan Kishan | WK-Batter | India | 11.25 |
| Jaydev Unadkat | Bowler | India | 1.00 |
| Kamindu Mendis | All-Rounder | Sri Lanka | 0.75 |
| Brydon Carse | Bowler | England | 1.00 |
| Eshan Malinga | Bowler | Sri Lanka | 1.20 |
| Aniket Verma | All-Rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Harsh Dubey | All-Rounder | India | 0.30 |
| R Smaran | Batter | India | 0.30 |
| Zeeshan Ansari | Bowler | India | 0.40 |
RCB Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abhinandan Singh | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Bowler | India | 10.75 |
| Devdutt Padikkal | Batter | India | 2.00 |
| Jacob Bethell | All-rounder | England | 2.60 |
| Jitesh Sharma | WK-Batter | India | 11.00 |
| Josh Hazlewood | Bowler | Australia | 12.50 |
| Krunal Pandya | All-rounder | India | 5.75 |
| Nuwan Thushara | Bowler | Sri Lanka | 1.60 |
| Phil Salt | WK-batter | England | 11.50 |
| Rajat Patidar | Batter | India | 11.00 |
| Rasikh Dar | Bowler | India | 6.00 |
| Romario Shepherd | All-rounder | West Indies | 1.50 |
| Suyash Sharma | Bowler | India | 2.60 |
| Swapnil Singh | All-rounder | India | 0.50 |
| Tim David | Batter | Australia | 3.00 |
| Virat Kohli | Batter | India | 21.00 |
| Yash Dayal | Bowler | India | 5.00 |
DC Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abhishek Porel | WK-Batter | India | 4.00 |
| Ajay Mandal | All-rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Ashutosh Sharma | Batter | India | 3.80 |
| Axar Patel | All-rounder | India | 16.50 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | Bowler | Sri Lanka | 0.75 |
| Karun Nair | Batter | India | 0.50 |
| KL Rahul | WK-Batter | India | 14.00 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | Bowler | India | 13.25 |
| Madhav Tiwari | All-rounder | India | 0.40 |
| Mitchell Starc | Bowler | Australia | 11.75 |
| Mukesh Kumar | Bowler | India | 8.00 |
| Nitish Rana (Trade in) | Batter | India | 4.20 |
| Sameer Rizvi | Batter | India | 0.95 |
| T. Natarajan | Bowler | India | 10.75 |
| Tripurana Vijay | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Tristan Stubbs | Batter | South Africa | 10.00 |
| Vipraj Nigam | All-rounder | India | 0.50 |
GT Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anuj Rawat | WK-Batter | India | 0.30 |
| Glenn Phillips | All-rounder | New Zealand | 2.00 |
| Gurnoor Singh Brar | Bowler | India | 1.30 |
| Ishant Sharma | Bowler | India | 0.75 |
| Jayant Yadav | All-rounder | India | 0.75 |
| Jos Buttler | WK-Batter | England | 15.75 |
| Kagiso Rabada | Bowler | South Africa | 10.75 |
| Kumar Kushagra | WK-Batter | India | 0.65 |
| Manav Suthar | All-rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Mohammad Siraj | Bowler | India | 12.25 |
| Mohd. Arshad Khan | Bowler | India | 1.30 |
| Nishant Sindhu | All-rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Prasidh Krishna | Bowler | India | 9.50 |
| R. Sai Kishore | Bowler | India | 2.00 |
| Rahul Tewatia | Batter | India | 4.00 |
| Rashid Khan | All-rounder | Afghanistan | 18.00 |
| Sai Sudharsan | Batter | India | 8.50 |
| Shahrukh Khan | Batter | India | 4.00 |
| Shubman Gill | Batter | India | 16.50 |
| Washington Sundar | All-rounder | India | 3.20 |
LSG Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul Samad | All-rounder | India | 4.20 |
| Aiden Markram | All-rounder | South Africa | 2.00 |
| Akash Singh | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Arjun Tendulkar (Trade in) | All-rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Arshin Kulkarni | All-rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Avesh Khan | Bowler | India | 9.75 |
| Ayush Badoni | All-rounder | India | 4.00 |
| Digvesh Rathi | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Himmat Singh | Batter | India | 0.30 |
| M Siddharth | Bowler | India | 0.75 |
| Matthew Breetzke | WK-Batter | South Africa | 0.75 |
| Mayank Yadav | Bowler | India | 11.00 |
| Md Shami (Trade in) | Bowler | India | 10.00 |
| Mitchell Marsh | All-rounder | Australia | 3.40 |
| Mohsin Khan | Bowler | India | 4.00 |
| Nicholas Pooran | WK-Batter | West Indies | 21.00 |
| Prince Yadav | Bowler | India | 0.30 |
| Rishabh Pant | WK-Batter | India | 27.00 |
| Shahbaz Ahmed | All-rounder | India | 2.40 |
PBKS Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arshdeep Singh | Bowler | India | 18.00 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | All-rounder | Afghanistan | 2.40 |
| Harnoor Pannu | Batter | India | 0.30 |
| Harpreet Brar | Bowler | India | 1.50 |
| Lockie Ferguson | Bowler | New Zealand | 2.00 |
| Marco Jansen | All-rounder | South Africa | 7.00 |
| Marcus Stoinis | All-rounder | Australia | 11.00 |
| Mitch Owen | All-rounder | Australia | 3.00 |
| Musheer Khan | All-rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Nehal Wadhera | Batter | India | 4.20 |
| Prabhsimran Singh | WK-Batter | India | 4.00 |
| Priyansh Arya | Batter | India | 3.80 |
| Pyla Avinash | Batter | India | 0.30 |
| Shashank Singh | Batter | India | 5.50 |
| Shreyas Iyer | Batter | India | 26.75 |
| Suryansh Shedge | All-rounder | India | 0.30 |
| Vishnu Vinod | WK-Batter | India | 0.95 |
| Vyshak Vijaykumar | Bowler | India | 1.80 |
| Xavier Bartlett | Bowler | Australia | 0.80 |
| Yash Thakur | Bowler | India | 1.60 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | Bowler | India | 18.00 |
RR Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (₹ Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dhruv Jurel | WK-Batter | India | 1400 |
| Donovan Ferreira (Trade in) | All-rounder | South Africa | 100 |
| Jofra Archer | Bowler | England | 1250 |
| Kwena Maphaka | Bowler | South Africa | 150 |
| Lhuan-Dre Pretorious | WK-Batter | South Africa | 30 |
| Nandre Burger | Bowler | South Africa | 350 |
| Ravindra Jadeja (Trade in) | All-rounder | India | 1400 |
| Riyan Parag | All-rounder | India | 1400 |
| Sam Curran (Trade in) | All-rounder | England | 240 |
| Sandeep Sharma | Bowler | India | 400 |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Batter | West Indies | 1100 |
| Shubham Dubey | Batter | India | 80 |
| Tushar Deshpande | Bowler | India | 650 |
| Vaibhav Suryavanshi | Batter | India | 110 |
| Yashaswi Jaiswal | Batter | India | 1800 |
| Yudhvir Charak | Bowler | India | 35 |
IPL 2026 Released Players List (Team-Wise)
Releases have injected fresh excitement into the IPL 2026 auction pool, with high-profile names like Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Venkatesh Iyer, and Rachin Ravindra becoming available. Teams released players to optimise their IPL 2026 purse remaining after retention and address squad imbalances.
CSK release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Matheesha Pathirana✈️ | 13.00 crore |
| Devon Conway✈️(wk) | 6.25 crore |
| Rachin Ravindra✈️ | 4.20 crore |
| Rahul Tripathi | 3.40 crore |
| Vijay Shankar | 1.20 crore |
| Deepak Hooda | 1.70 crore |
| Vansh Bedi | 55.00 lakh |
| C Andre Siddarth | 30.00 lakh |
| Shaik Rasheed | 30.00 lakh |
| Kamlesh Nagarkoti | 30.00 lakh |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 14.00 crore (traded to RR) |
| Sam Curran✈️ | 2.40 crore (traded to RR) |
RCB release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Liam Livingstone✈️ | 8.75 crore |
| Lungi Ngidi✈️ | 1.00 crore |
| Mayank Agarwal | 1.00 crore |
| Tim Seifert✈️(wk) | 2.00 crore |
| Blessing Muzarabani✈️ | 75.00 lakh |
| Manoj Bhandage | 30.00 lakh |
| Mohit Rathee | 30.00 lakh |
| Swastik Chakara | 30.00 lakh |
MI release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Reece Topley ✈️ | 75.00 lakh |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman✈️ | 2.00 crore |
| Satyanarayana Raju | 30.00 lakh |
| Lizaad Williams ✈️ | 75.00 lakh |
| Arjun Tendulkar | 30 lakh (traded to LSG) |
| Karn Sharma | 50.00 lakh |
| Bevon Jacobs✈️ | 30.00 lakh |
| KL Shrijith | 30.00 lakh |
| Vignesh Puthur | 30.00 lakh |
DC release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Faf du Plessis✈️ | 2.00 crore |
| Jake Fraser-McGurk✈️ | 9.00 crore |
| Mohit Sharma | 2.20 crore |
| Donovan Ferreira✈️ | 1.00 crore (traded to RR) |
| Manvanth Kumar | 30.00 lakh |
| Darshan Nalkande | 30.00 lakh |
| Harry Brook✈️ | 6.25 crore |
GT release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Karim Janat ✈️ | 75.00 lakh |
| Gerald Coetzee ✈️ | 2.40 crore |
| Dasun Shanaka✈️ | 75.00 lakh |
| Mahipal Lomror | 1.70 crore |
| Kulwant Khejroliya | 30.00 lakh |
| Sherfane Rutherford✈️ | 2.60 crore (traded to MI) |
LSG release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Ravi Bishnoi | 11.00 crore |
| David Miller✈️ | 7.50 crore |
| Akash Deep | 8.00 crore |
| Shamar Joseph✈️ | 75.00 lakh |
| Aryan Juyal | 30.00 lakh |
| Yuvraj Chaudhary | 30.00 lakh |
| Rajvardhan Hangargekar | 30.00 lakh |
| Shardul Thakur | 2.00 crore (traded to MI) |
RR release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Wanindu Hasaranga✈️ | 5.25 crore |
| Maheesh Theeshana✈️ | 4.40 crore |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi✈️ | 2.00 crore |
| Akash Madhwal | 1.20 crore |
| Kumar Kartikeya | 30.00 lakh |
| Kunal Rathore | 30.00 lakh |
| Ashok Sharma | 30.00 lakh |
| Sanju Samson | 18.00 crore (traded to CSK) |
| Nitish Rana | 4.20 crore (traded to DC) |
PBKS release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Glenn Maxwell✈️ | 4.20 crore |
| Aaron Hardie✈️ | 1.25 crore |
| Praveen Dubey | 30.00 lakh |
| Kuldeep Sen | 80.00 lakh |
| Josh Inglis✈️(wk) | 2.50 crore |
KKR release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Venkatesh Iyer | 23.75 crore |
| Andre Russell✈️ | 12.00 crore |
| Quinton de Kock (wk)✈️ | 3.60 crore |
| Spencer Johnson✈️ | 2.80 crore |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)✈️ | 2.00 crore |
| Anrich Nortje✈️ | 6.50 crore |
| Moeen Ali✈️ | 2.00 crore |
| Chetan Sakariya | 75.00 lakh |
| Luvnith Sisodia (wk) | 30.00 lakh |
| Mayank Markande | 30.00 lakh (traded to MI) |
SRH release list for IPL 2026
| Player | IPL 2025 Price (INR) |
|---|---|
| Rahul Chahar | 3.20 crore |
| Abhinav Manohar | 3.20 crore |
| Adam Zampa✈️ | 2.40 crore |
| Simarjeet Singh | 1.50 crore |
| Wiaan Mulder✈️ | 75.00 lakh |
| Atharva Taide | 30.00 lakh |
| Sachin Baby | 30.00 lakh |
| Mohammed Shami | 10.00 crore (traded to LSG) |
IPL 2026 Retention Rules & Guidelines
The IPL 2026 retention rules emphasise flexibility for mini-auctions, allowing unlimited retentions unlike mega-auction cycles limited to 4-6 players. Key guidelines include:
- No Retention Limit: Teams can retain any number from their 2025 squad, capped at 25 total players.
- Salary Cap: ₹120 crore per team; retained salaries are deducted from this purse.
- Deadline: Lists submitted by November 15, 2025; announcements from 5 PM IST.
- Trades: Window open post-2025 final until one week before auction; post-auction trades allowed for 30 days.
- Squad Composition: Max 8 overseas players; uncapped Indians at reduced rates (₹4 crore max).
- RTM Cards: No Right-to-match cards are available in the mini auctions.
Biggest Retentions for IPL 2026
Several retentions stand out for their strategic and emotional impact:
- MS Dhoni (CSK): The legendary captain’s retention ensures fan loyalty and mentorship for young guns like Ruturaj Gaikwad.
- KL Rahul (DC): Despite a lot of rumours of linking him for a trade move to KKR and CSK, DC retained KL Rahul.
- Heinrich Klaasen (SRH, ₹23 Cr): The explosive wicketkeeper-batter’s retention cements SRH’s middle-order firepower.
- Sunil Narine (KKR, ₹12 Cr): The mystery spinner-allrounder’s versatility remains key despite KKR’s rebuild.
IPL 2026 Trade
This window was the biggest trade window in IPL history. Sanju Samson to CSK for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran made it the most expensive trade deal ever.
| Player | Trade from | Trade to | Price (Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ravindra Jadeja | CSK | RR | 18.00 |
| Sanju Samson | RR | CSK | 18.00 |
| Sam Curran | CSK | RR | 2.40 |
| Mohammed Shami | SRH | LSG | 10.00 |
| Nitish Rana | RR | DC | 4.20 |
| Arjun Tendulkar | MI | LSG | 0.30 |
| Mayank Markande | KKR | MI | 0.30 |
| Donovan Ferreira | DC | RR | 1.00 |
| Shardul Thakur | LSG | MI | 2.00 |
| Sherfane Rutherford | GT | MI | 2.60 |
Updated IPL 2026 Squad After Retention (Combined List)
The IPL 2026 updated squad list reflects a blend of retained stars and traded assets, with 173 players across teams. Highlights include CSK’s rebuilt batting with Samson and Brevis, MI’s intact core around Rohit-Hardik, and KKR’s spin-heavy unit led by Narine-Chakaravarthy. DC boasts a strong all-round setup with Axar Patel and KL Rahul, while SRH retains explosive openers Head and Abhishek. GT’s balanced side features Gill and Rashid Khan, PBKS emphasizes youth with Shreyas Iyer, RR welcomes back Jadeja, LSG eyes pace revival with Shami, and RCB banks on Kohli’s leadership. Full lists available team-wise above; auction will fill 77 slots.
Chennai Super Kings squad after retention
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, M.S. Dhoni, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis. Traded in: Sanju Samson (from RR).
Mumbai Indians squad after retention
Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa. Traded in: Sherfane Rutherford (from GT), Mayank Markande (from KKR), Shardul Thakur (from LSG).
Kolkata Knight Riders squad after retention
Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Ankul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik
Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad after retention
Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, and Suyash Sharma.
Punjab Kings squad after retention
Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod.
Gujarat Titans squad after retention
Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips.
Rajasthan Royals squad after retention
Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande,Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger. Traded in: Ravindra Jadeja (from CSK), Sam Curran (from CSK).
Sunrisers Hyderabad squad after retention
Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R. Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari.
Lucknow Super Giants squad after retention
Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh. Traded in: Mohammed Shami (from SRH), Arjun Tendulkar (from MI).
Delhi Capitals squad after retention
Axar Patel (c), KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera. Traded in: Nitish Rana (from RR).
IPL Auction 2026 Remaining Purse
Kolkata Knight Riders will enter the auction to outbid everyone as they have a purse of a whopping Rs 64.30 Cr. They also have to fill up 13 slots at the auction. Chennai Super Kings have the second-highest remaining purse of Rs 43.4 crore with 9 slots to fill. Mumbai Indians will travel to Abu Dhabi to be a mute spectator as they have the lowest purse of Rs 2.75 Cr.
| Team | Purse available (Rs) | Available Slots | Overseas Slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSK | 43.4 | 9 | 4 |
| DC | 21.8 | 8 | 5 |
| GT | 12.9 | 5 | 4 |
| KKR | 64.3 | 13 | 6 |
| LSG | 22.95 | 6 | 4 |
| MI | 2.75 | 5 | 1 |
| PBKS | 11.5 | 4 | 2 |
| RCB | 16.4 | 8 | 2 |
| RR | 16.05 | 9 | 1 |
| SRH | 25.5 | 10 | 2 |
| Total | 237.55 | 77 | 31 |
FAQs on IPL Retention 2026
The IPL 2026 retention lists were announced starting November 15, 2025, from 5 PM IST, live on Star Sports and JioHotstar. All submissions closed by deadline, with full reveals by evening.
For IPL 2026’s mini-auction, teams face no limit on retentions, provided squads stay under 25 players and within the ₹120 crore cap. A total of 173 were retained league-wide.
Punjab Kings retained the most at 21 players, focusing on core stability, while KKR retained the fewest (12) to maximise auction flexibility.
Retained players’ salaries are deducted from the ₹120 crore purse; capped players max at ₹18 crore (e.g., Bumrah), uncapped at ₹4 crore. Trades adjust fees, as seen in Samson’s ₹18 crore move.
As Delhi Capitals have retained KL Rahul for IPL 2026, he will play for the same franchise.
