KKR Can Release THESE Players And Save INR 48.65 Crore For IPL 2026 Auction – Cricket.com

The Kolkata Knight Riders had a very average outing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where, instead of showing intent to defend their 2024 title, they were found lacking in most areas. Their downfall started right from the auction, where they failed to retain their skipper and spent way too much on someone like Venkatesh Iyer. 
For the 2026 mini-auction, Kolkata could go all out by releasing a lot of their players, especially the non-performers, and then forming a desired team. 
Here’s how KKR could free up INR 48.65 Cr by releasing a few players and build the core of their team again by investing that money in the fresh auction.

Venkatesh Iyer had shown promise in the 2024 IPL, but not so much that they needed to shed INR 23.75 cr to retain his services. In IPL 2025, that investment turned out to be a total loss as Venkatesh could only manage 160 runs in seven innings of the 11 matches he played. 
The Madhya Pradesh cricketer was not even used with the ball. Releasing him could see Kolkata gain a precious INR 23.75 cr, and, if they wanted, then they could re-sign him for a reasonable amount, such as INR 5-7 cr.

Andre Russell is one of the GOATs of the KKR unit, having represented them not just in the IPL but their sister franchises in other leagues as well. However, for the past 2–3 seasons, he has not been the same Russell that the opposition once feared. 
In IPL 2025, Russell could score only 167 runs at an average of 18.55 with only one fifty to his name. With the ball too, he was not at all impressive, picking up just 8 wickets at an economy rate of 11.94, which is the worst ever for him in an IPL season in the league’s history.

KKR released Mitchell Starc and to try and fill that gap, they hired the likes of Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson for INR 6.5 cr and 2.8 cr respectively. But despite spending a total of INR 9.3 Cr, they ended up with both of them failing together, picking only two wickets at an average of 108. By releasing the two, the Kolkata side could free up INR 9.3 cr and acquire two useful bowlers from the new auction list.

South Africa’s Quinton de Kock did well for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), which led to him being picked by the KKR for INR 3.6 Cr. However, for the Knight Riders, South Africa struggled to get going, scoring only 152 runs in 8 innings with an average of 21.71. KKR could do well to release him, as they already have an overseas wicketkeeper-batter in Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
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