The 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is moving into its crucial build-up phase: the player auction is scheduled for 16 December 2025 in Abu Dhabi, marking the third straight overseas auction for the league.
Today, 15 November 2025, marks the deadline for all ten franchises to submit their lists of retained and released players — a key milestone ahead of the auction.
Team-by-Team: Retained & Released Highlights
Below are some of the major retention and release decisions reported so far (based on available confirmed and strong-rumour data):
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Retained: Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Shaik Rasheed, Anshul Kamboj, Nathan Ellis.
Released / Traded: Ravindra Jadeja (trade), Sam Curran (trade), Devon Conway, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Retained: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Will Jacks, Naman Dhir.
Released: Reece Topley, Lizaad Williams, Satyanarayana Raju.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Retained: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Josh Hazlewood.
Released: Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Salam Dar, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Retained: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande.
Released / Traded: Sanju Samson (trade), Wanindu Hasaranga, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Retained: Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan.
Released: Mohammad Shami, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan (as per some lists).
Gujarat Titans (GT)
Retained: Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj.
Released: Rahul Tewatia, Gerald Coetzee, Jayant Yadav.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Retained: Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan.
Released: Shamar Joseph, David Miller.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Retained: Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Released: Quinton de Kock, Venkatesh Iyer.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Retained: Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Released: Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Retained: KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc.
Released: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Karun Nair.
What this means & what’s next
With today’s deadline passing (15 Nov), all franchises should have locked in their retention/release lists. That sets the stage for the IPL aucti on 16 December in Abu Dhabi, where teams will pick up players from the pool of released names, and from unregistered talent, to finalise their 2026 rosters.
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