IPL 2026 Retained Players List: Teams and Purse

The IPL 2026 retained players list was finalised on 15 November 2025, when the 10 franchises kept 173 players, including 49 overseas players. Kolkata Knight Riders entered the auction with the largest remaining purse at ₹64.3 crore, while Mumbai Indians had ₹2.75 crore. The auction later took place in Abu Dhabi on 16 December 2025.

IPL 2026 retained players list by team

Chennai Super Kings retained: Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Jamie Overton, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmad, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis and Urvil Patel.

Delhi Capitals retained: Abhishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs and Vipraj Nigam.

Gujarat Titans retained 20: Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammad Siraj, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar.

Kolkata Knight Riders retained 12: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakaravarthy.

Lucknow Super Giants retained: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mitchell Marsh, Mohsin Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shahbaz Ahmed.

Mumbai Indians retained: Allah Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande, Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult and Will Jacks.

Punjab Kings retained 21: Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Owen, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Rajasthan Royals retained: Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Nandre Burger, Ravindra Jadeja, Riyan Parag, Sam Curran, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Yudhvir Charak.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained: Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal.

Sunrisers Hyderabad retained: Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, Smaran Ravichandran, Travis Head and Zeeshan Ansari.

How much purse did each team have for the IPL 2026 auction?

The official pre-auction purse figures, in crore rupees, were: CSK 43.4; Delhi Capitals 21.8; Gujarat Titans 12.9; KKR 64.3; LSG 22.95; Mumbai Indians 2.75; Punjab Kings 11.5; RCB 16.4; Rajasthan Royals 16.05; and Sunrisers Hyderabad 25.5. Across the league, ₹237.55 crore was available for 77 slots.

Why did KKR release Andre Russell?

KKR’s chief executive Venky Mysore later explained that retaining Russell would have cost an ₹18 crore purse deduction, even though his contract value had been ₹12 crore. ESPNcricinfo reported that releasing him restored ₹18 crore to KKR’s auction budget, giving the franchise significantly more flexibility.

Russell did not ultimately become an auction purchase option. He announced his IPL retirement on 30 November 2025 and joined KKR’s support staff as a “Power Coach”, so articles describing him as one of the players available at the 16 December auction are incorrect.

Which big players were available at the IPL 2026 auction?

The official shortlist contained 350 players competing for 77 vacancies, including 240 Indian and 110 overseas players. Prominent names in pre-auction coverage included Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Ravi Bishnoi and Liam Livingstone.

Because the auction has already happened, “available” should be written in the past tense. The retention list is a pre-auction snapshot, not the final 2026 squads after bidding and trades. Visit notout agents for the latest sports updates and platform information.

FAQs

How many players were retained for IPL 2026?

The 10 franchises retained 173 players, including 49 overseas players.

Why did KKR release Andre Russell?

KKR said the ₹18 crore retention-purse deduction was the key trigger, because releasing him created greater auction flexibility.

Which team had the biggest IPL 2026 auction purse?

Kolkata Knight Riders had ₹64.3 crore, the largest remaining purse before the auction.