IPL Retention 2026 Highlights: CSK releases Pathirana; Livingstone out of RCB; KKR let go of Russell, Venkatesh; Purse remaining – Sportstar

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Updated : Nov 15, 2025 22:44 IST
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Welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of the IPL Retentions as the teams look set to formalise their player releases and retentions ahead of the auction in December. 
KKR: 13 (6 overseas)
CSK: 9 (4 overseas)
PBKS: 4 (2 overseas)
LSG: 6 (4 overseas)
SRH: 10 (2 overseas)
MI: 5 (1 overseas)
PBKS: 4 (2 overseas)
RCB: 8 (2 overseas)
RR: 9 (1 overseas)
GT: 5 (4 overseas)
Here are the top players to look out for at the IPL 2026 auction after the list of retentions and releases were confirmed by the 10 franchises.
IPL 2026 retention news: Sportstar looks at the biggest names who were released ahead of the IPL 2026 Auction.
Gaikwad was appointed skipper in the 2024 season but handed over the reins to M.S. Dhoni midway through the 2025 season after he was ruled out due to an injury.
Defending champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru finalised its list of retained and released players ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction, which will be held on December 16 in Abu Dhabi.
DC's retained and released players list for IPL 2026 is out. See who stays, who leaves, the purse remaining, and what it means for the mini auction.
Here is the full list of players released or retained by the franchises ahead of the IPL retention deadline on November 15.
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.
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.
Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Archer, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger. Traded in: Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Donovan Ferreira.
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.
Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks. Traded in: Sherfane Rutherford (from GT), Mayank Markande (from KKR), Shardul Thakur (from LSG).
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).
Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Ankul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora.
Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav.
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.
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).
Released players: Aryan Juyal, David Miller, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Will O’Rourke, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Shardul Thakur (trade), Akash Deep, Ravi Bishnoi, Shamar Joseph
Released players: Rutherford (trade), Karim Janat, Mahipal Lomror, Dasun Shanaka, Gerald Coetzee, Kulwant Khejroliya
Released players: Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Donovan Ferreira (Trade), Sediqullah Atal, Manvanth Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande
Maxwell, who retired from ODIs in June, has shown better form in T20Is this year with 171 runs at a strike rate of 169.30, including an unbeaten 62 against South Africa in Cairns.
Released players: Abhinav Manohar, Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Mohammed Shami (trade), Wiaan Mulder, Simarjeet Singh, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa
Released players: Swastik Chhikkara, Mayank Agarwal, Tim Seifert, Liam Livingstone, Manoj Bhandage, Lungi Ngidi, Blessing Muzarabani, Mohit Rathee
Released players: Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Praveen Dubey, Josh Inglis
CSK’s retained and released players list for IPL 2026 is out. See who stays, who leaves, the purse remaining, and what it means for the mini auction.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana join Nitish Rana and Sanju Samson on their way out of RR. So do Kumar Kartikeya, Ashok Sharma, Kunal Singh Rathore, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akash Madhwal. Shimron Hetmyer stays. 
Released players: Satyanarayana Raju, Reece Topley, KL Shrijith, Karn Sharma, Arjun Tendulkar, Bevon Jacobs, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Lizaad Williams, Vignesh Puthur
Released players: Andre Russell, Luvnith Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Spencer Johnson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya, Anrich Nortje
In IPL 2025, Pathirana was below his best, finishing with 13 wickets in 12 matches at an economy of 10.13.
Players released: Rahul Tripathi, Vansh Bedi, C Andre Siddarth, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Sam Curran (trade), Ravindra Jadeja (trade), Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Shaik Rasheed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Matheesha Pathirana
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IPL 2026: Shardul Thakur joins Mumbai Indians ahead of next season

India all-rounder Shardul Thakur has joined Mumbai Indians ahead of the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the franchise announced on Thursday.

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India all-rounder Shardul Thakur has joined Mumbai Indians ahead of the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the franchise announced on Thursday.
The acquisition of Ravindra Jadeja has solved a long-standing issue regarding the all-rounder spot for Rajasthan Royals. Jadeja provides a 4-over bank and middle-order left-hand option. Sam Curran and Donovan Ferreira further bolster the power-hitting ranks in the team, while also providing a secondary option with the ball. Does that mean Shimron Hetmyer will be released? 
KKR had paid INR 23.75 crores for the services of Venkatesh Iyer last year. Venky Mysore has previously stated that the franchise will not release a player just to secure a discount. But with such a big discount on offer, can KKR afford to retain him? 
Anrich Nortje, Andre Russell, Moeen Ali and Quinton de Kock could be the other players who could be released to free up space. With Cameron Green back fit, KKR might go all in for the Aussie all-rounder. 
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IPL 2026 Auction to be held in Abu Dhabi in mid-December

The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction will be held in Abu Dhabi between December 14 and 17.

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The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction will be held in Abu Dhabi between December 14 and 17.
Sanju Samson: RR to CSK
Ravindra Jadeja: CSK to RR
Sam Curran: CSK to RR
Nitish Rana: RR to DC
Donovan Ferreira: DC to RR
Shardul Thakur: LSG to MI
Mohammed Shami: SRH to LSG
Arjun Tendulkar: MI top LSG
Mayank Markande: KKR to MI
Sherfane Rutherford: GT to MI
Sanju Samson joins CSK and Ravindra Jadeja returns to RR in the biggest IPL 2026 trade. Full details, impact analysis and team updates inside.
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the IPL 2026 retention announcement. We’ve had a few high-profile trades this year ahead of the mini-auction. Will the franchises surprise us with some unexpected releases as well? Tune in to find out. 
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Published on Nov 15, 2025
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