The retention window for players in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season closed on November 15, 2025, with all 10 franchises confirming their retained players ahead of the auction. In total, 173 players have been retained across the teams, including 49 overseas players. A combined purse of ₹237.55 crore will be available at the auction for 77 player slots. Check the IPL Retention Players List 2026 in which each team has retained their Star Performers.
Each team is allowed a maximum squad of 25 players, and Punjab Kings have decided to retain 21 players, the highest among the 10 franchises, while Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans have retained 20 players each. We have mentioned the complete Team Wise IPL Retained Players List 2025 for the reference of our readers. The IPL Player Auction will be held on December 16 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
IPL Retention Players List 2026
The IPL Retention Players List 2026, which outlines the retained and released players for each Indian Premier League team ahead of the upcoming auction, was officially disclosed on Saturday. Of the ten IPL cricket teams, the Punjab Kings retained the largest number of players, totalling 21, while the Kolkata Knight Riders retained the smallest number, with just 12.
KKR has released Andre Russell, who has been with the team since 2014, as well as Venkatesh Iyer, who was the franchise’s most expensive acquisition in IPL history last season. Chennai Super Kings are also expected to be quite active in the upcoming auction, having lost 13 players from the last season, including the now-retired Ravichandran Ashwin. MS Dhoni has been retained. Read below for more information on the IPL retention list.
IPL Retained Players List 2025 Team Wise
Check the IPL Retained Players List 2025 Team Wise through this section.
- Mumbai Indians (MI)
Retained Players: Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, AM Ghazanfar, Mitchell Santner, Ryan Rickelton, Robin Minz, Raj Angad Bawa, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch
Released: Ishan Kishan, Gerald Coetzee, Romario Shepherd, Mohammed Nabi, Shreyas Gopal
Trades: None announced.
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Retained Players: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam Dar, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma
Released: Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Karn Sharma
Trades: None announced.
- Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Retained Players: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary
Released: Ravindra Jadeja, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra
Trades: None confirmed.
- Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai, Lockie Ferguson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Xavier Bartlett, Suryansh Shedge, Pyla Avinash, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Singh
Released: Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone
Trades: None.
- Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Retained Players: Rishabh Pant (C), Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Mohsin Khan, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Digvesh Rathi, Arshin Kulkarni, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth
Released: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya (moved to RCB)
Trades: Krunal Pandya – RCB (Confirmed)
- Delhi Capitals (DC)
Retained Players: Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel, Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Vipraj Nigam, Karun Nair, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Nitish Rana (Trade-in)
Released: David Warner, Rilee Rossouw, Anrich Nortje
Trades: Nitish Rana from KKR – DC
- Gujarat Titans (GT)
Retained Players: 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
Released: Wriddhiman Saha, Noor Ahmad (moved to CSK), Spencer Johnson
Trades: None confirmed.
- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Retained Players: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, *Rovman Powell, *Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
Released: Nitish Rana (to DC), Andre Russell, Shreyas Iyer (moved to PBKS)
Trades: Nitish Rana – DC
IPL Teams Budget Available 2026
| Teams | Number of Players | Number of Overseas Players | Total money spent | Salary cap available |
| Chennai Super Kings (CSK) | 16 | 4 | 8160 | 4340 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) | 17 | 6 | 10860 | 1640 |
| Mumbai Indians (MI) | 20 | 7 | 12225 | 275 |
| Punjab Kings (PBKS) | 21 | 6 | 11350 | 1150 |
| Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) | 19 | 4 | 10205 | 2295 |
| Delhi Capitals (DC) | 17 | 3 | 10320 | 2180 |
| Gujarat Titans (GT) | 20 | 4 | 11210 | 1290 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | 12 | 2 | 6070 | 6430 |
Frequently Asked Questions On IPL Retention Players List 2026
What is The IPL 2026 Retention List?
The IPL 2026 Retention List is a formal record of the players that each franchise will keep ahead of the mini auction season.
How Many Players Can Be Retained By Each Team for IPL 2026?
Each franchise is allowed to have a maximum of 25 players in its squad, but is not restricted in terms of the number of retained players at Mini Auctions.
Why Do Teams Release Big-Name Players Before The Auction?
Teams will release their best players for numerous reasons, including their excessive salary burden, faltering performance levels, injury issues, as a result of changes in team strategy, or to free up salary cap room in order to make additional signings.
Who Were The Major Players Released Before IPL 2026?
Noteworthy releases from teams are Andre Russell (KKR), KL Rahul (LSG), Ishan Kishan (MI), David Warner (DC), Sam Curran (PBKS), and Faf du Plessis (RCB).
