IPL 2026 Retentions Announced, the wait is over. All ten Indian Premier League franchises have officially revealed their retention and release lists for the 2026 season, setting the stage for what promises to be a transformative mini-auction on December 16 in Abu Dhabi. The announcements have brought clarity to months of speculation while delivering several surprises that will reshape the competitive landscape of the world’s premier T20 league.
As the official announcements rolled out on Star Sports and JioCinema, here’s a deep dive into each franchise’s moves, strategic intent, and what’s next.
The Big Trades: Winners, Losers, and What They Mean: IPL 2026 Retentions Announced
Trades aren’t just transactions in the IPL – they’re chess moves in a billion-dollar game. This window, open since the IPL 2025 final, closed at 3 PM IST today, but not before franchises engineered deals that could define legacies. Here’s the full rundown:
CSK–RR Mega Swap:
Ravindra Jadeja (fee revised to ₹14 Cr from ₹18 Cr) and Sam Curran (₹2.4 Cr) move to Rajasthan Royals, while Sanju Samson (₹18 Cr) joins Chennai Super Kings.
Impact: CSK acquires a dynamic wicketkeeper-opener in Samson, giving Ruturaj Gaikwad the ideal partner and strengthening a top order that struggled in 2025. RR, meanwhile, reunites Jadeja with his home franchise, where he could even be handed the captaincy. His presence, along with Curran, significantly boosts their spin and all-round depth.
Mohammad Shami to LSG:
Transferred from SRH for ₹10 Cr.
Impact: Lucknow Super Giants finally secure a reliable death-overs specialist to pair with Mayank Yadav’s express pace. SRH free up crucial purse value but lose an experienced campaigner post-injury.
Shardul Thakur to MI:
All-cash deal from LSG worth ₹4 Cr.
Impact: The Mumbai boy returns home, bringing valuable lower-order hitting and leadership to MI’s quest for a sixth IPL title.
Sherfane Rutherford to MI:
Acquired from GT for ₹2.6 Cr.
Impact: Adds much-needed West Indian power in the middle order—an affordable, high-upside signing.
Mayank Markande to MI:
Moved from KKR for ₹30 lakh.
Impact: MI regains their former mystery spinner, strengthening their leg-spin options.
Arjun Tendulkar to LSG:
Transferred from MI for ₹30 lakh.
Impact: Adds a left-arm swing option to LSG’s attack while carrying forward the Tendulkar legacy in a new city.
Nitish Rana to DC:
Acquired from RR for ₹4.2 Cr.
Impact: Delhi Capitals bolster their middle order with Rana’s experience and tactical maturity, including his leadership stints at KKR.
Donovan Ferreira to RR:
Moved from DC, fee revised to ₹1 Cr from ₹75 lakh.
Impact: RR strengthens their bench with a versatile South African all-rounder, improving their lower-order firepower and flexibility
These deals, per BCCI disclosures, reflect a league maturing: franchises prioritizing Indian cores (now valued at premiums) over overseas flash, with revised fees ensuring purse parity. Total traded value? Over ₹55 Cr, setting the stage for bidding wars.
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IPL 2026 Retained Players – Detailed Team List & Analysis
With squads capped at 25 and overseas slots at 8, teams balanced nostalgia with necessity. Uncapped retentions (under ₹4 Cr) offered smart savings, while releases like Pathirana (CSK) and Russell (KKR) flooded the pool with X-factors. Below, a comprehensive table of retentions (with fees where disclosed), key releases, and estimated remaining purse (post-trades; total IPL purse ~₹500 Cr across teams).
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Retained Players:
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (C)
- MS Dhoni
- Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis
- Urvil Patel, Sanju Samson (traded in from RR)
- Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh
- Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary
Released / Traded Out:
Remaining Purse: ~ ₹43.4 crore after retentions.
Analysis: CSK have overhauled some parts of their squad, especially in their bowling, but retained their core leadership (Gaikwad, Dhoni). The trade for Sanju Samson is a big move and could signal more aggressive batting strategies.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Retained Players:
- Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar
- Jitesh Sharma, Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh, Rasikh Salam Dar
- Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood
Released / Not Retained: Some big names like Liam Livingstone are not in their retention list.
Analysis: RCB are keeping their title-winning core intact (Kohli, Patidar) and retaining a good mix of experienced pace (Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar) and all-rounders to stay competitive, while leaving room for auction flexibility.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Retained Players:
- Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah
- Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Will Jacks
- Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Ashwani Kumar, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult
Trades In:
- Sherfane Rutherford, Mayank Markande, Shardul Thakur
Released Players:
- Bevon Jacobs, Lizaad Williams, Reece Topley, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, etc.
Analysis: MI have retained a very stable core. With their big names still in, they seem to be focusing on continuity and planning to use the auction to pick role players or reinforce specific areas.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Retained Players:
- Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Manish Pandey
- Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy
- Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora
Released Players:
- Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock
Analysis: KKR have made some bold calls – they’ve let go of major names like Russell, but retained their core spin strength (Narine, Chakravarthy) and some young Indian talent. They likely want to rebuild dynamically.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Retained Players:
- KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav
- Abhishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma
- Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera
Released Players:
- Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Manvanth Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, etc.
Analysis: DC are keeping their spin-allround backbone (Axar, Kuldeep) and blending in young batters + pace. This gives them flexibility to build a balanced squad in the auction.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Retained Players:
- KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Shahbaz Ahmed
- Arshin Kulkarni, Abdul Samad, Rishabh Pant, Matthew Breetzke
- Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh Rathi
- Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Mohammad Shami
Released Players:
- Shardul Thakur, David Miller, Ravi Bishnoi
- Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Shamar Joseph, Akash Deep
- Aryan Juyal, Yuvraj Choudhary
Analysis: LSG are investing heavily in young talent + top-order strength (Pant, Markram, Pooran), and their trade for Shami significantly boosts their bowling firepower.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Retained Players:
- Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel
- Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran
- Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira, Yudhvir Singh
- Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger
Released Players:
- Sanju Samson (Traded out), Nitish Rana (Traded out)
- Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga
- Ashok Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal
- Fazalhaq Farooqi
Gujarat Titans (GT)
Retained Players:
- Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler
- Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar
- Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan
- Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Arshad Khan
- Nishant Sindhu, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra
- Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav
Released Players:
- Sherfane Rutherford, Gerald Coetzee
- Karim Janat, Dasun Shanaka
- Kulwant Khejroliya, Mahipal Lomror
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Retained Players:
- Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan
- Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Reddy, Harshal Patel
- Pat Cummins, Brydon Carse, Kamindu Mendis
- Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, R Smaran
- Aniket Verma, Harsh Dubey, Eshan Malinga
Released Players:
- Mohammad Shami, Adam Zampa
- Rahul Chahar, Abhinav Manohar
- Wiaan Mulder, Sachin Baby
- Atharva Taide
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Retained Players:
- Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera
- Prabhsimran Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan
- Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai
- Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar
- Yuzvendra Chahal, Lockie Ferguson, Xavier Bartlett
- Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen
Released Players:
- Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis
- Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen
- Praveen Dubey
Key Observations Across Teams
- No Cap on Retentions: In 2026, teams were not limited in how many players they could retain.
- Big Trades:
- Sanju Samson → CSK for Jadeja + Curran is a headline deal.
- Mohammad Shami → LSG is another major trade.
- Different Strategies:
- Some teams (like CSK, MI) are retaining core backbone players.
- Others (like RR, LSG) are blending youth + all-rounders + pace aggressively.
- Teams like KKR are releasing big names to free up space for auction churn.
Looking Ahead to the Mini-Auction
With retention lists finalized, attention now shifts to the December 16 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi. The auction pool will feature marquee names like Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell, Matheesha Pathirana, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, and Venkatesh Iyer, alongside emerging domestic talents and international stars seeking IPL opportunities.
Franchises will compete to fill remaining squad gaps while staying within the ₹120 crore salary cap and 25-player squad limit. Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders, with their lean retention lists, will have the most firepower heading into the auction.
The 2026 season promises fresh rivalries, new leadership dynamics, and reimagined team compositions as franchises pursue championship glory with their revamped squads.
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