The Indian Premier League’s trade and retention window for the 2026 season closed with all ten franchises choosing stability over overhaul, retaining between 12 and 21 players each. A total of 173 players; including 49 overseas, were retained as teams secured their core Indian groups ahead of next month’s mini-auction in Abu Dhabi.
From Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma, M.S. Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul, every marquee Indian name remained with their home franchise as expected. Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj were among other senior players kept on board.
Blockbuster Samson–Jadeja–Curran Deal Steals the Spotlight
The most dramatic move of the window saw Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson traded to Chennai Super Kings in a high-voltage swap involving Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. It is one of the most significant trades in IPL history, reshaping the cores of both franchises.
Lucknow Super Giants also made headlines by acquiring India’s 2023 World Cup hero Mohammed Shami in a high-value trade.
High-profile Releases Dominate Fan Reactions
Even with big names retained, the release list sparked intense debate among fans.
Star performers such as Andre Russell (KKR), Glenn Maxwell (PBKS), Faf du Plessis (DC), Adam Zampa (SRH), Liam Livingstone (RCB), Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra (both CSK), and David Miller (LSG) were let go as teams recalibrated ahead of the auction. These decisions free up significant purse space as franchises prepare for targeted buys in Abu Dhabi.
Purse Distribution: KKR Hold Biggest Balance
Across teams, ₹237.55 crore ($28.5m) remains to be spent at the auction for 77 total slots.
Kolkata Knight Riders enter with the largest purse, ₹64.3 crore ($7.7m), and have up to 13 slots to fill, including six overseas.
Chennai Super Kings sit second with ₹43.4 crore ($5.2m) to utilise, while Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans also have notable flexibility despite retaining 21 and 20 players respectively.
Retention Snapshot
Punjab Kings retained the most players (21), sticking to a near-complete core, while Kolkata Knight Riders kept the fewest (12). Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans each retained 20, opting for continuity. Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals settled on 17 apiece.
FULL RETENTION LIST (Now with rupees + dollars) (1 crore ≈ $120,000)
Chennai Super Kings (CSK): 16 retained | 4 overseas | Spent: ₹81.60 cr (≈ $9.79m) | Cap left: ₹43.40 cr (≈ $5.20m)
Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, *Jamie Overton, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, *Nathan Ellis, *Noor Ahmad, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sanju Samson (T), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Ayush Mhatre, *Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel.
Delhi Capitals (DC): 17 retained | 3 overseas | Spent: ₹103.20 cr (≈ $12.38m) | Cap left: ₹21.80 cr (≈ $2.62m)
Abhishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, *Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, *Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, Nitish Rana (T), Sameer Rizvi, T. Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, *Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam.
Gujarat Titans (GT): 20 retained | 4 overseas | Spent: ₹112.10 cr (≈ $13.45m) | Cap left: ₹12.90 cr (≈ $1.55m)
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, Washington Sundar.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): 12 retained | 2 overseas | Spent: ₹60.70 cr (≈ $7.28m) | Cap left: ₹64.30 cr (≈ $7.72m)
Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, *Rovman Powell, *Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG): 19 retained | 4 overseas | Spent: ₹102.05 cr ($12.24m) | Cap left: ₹22.95 cr (≈ $2.75m)
Abdul Samad, *Aiden Markram, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar (T), Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, *Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav, Md Shami (T), *Mitchell Marsh, Mohsin Khan, *Nicholas Pooran, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shahbaz Ahmed.
Mumbai Indians (MI): 20 retained | 7 overseas | Spent: ₹122.25 cr (≈ $14.67m) | Cap left: ₹2.75 cr (≈ $0.33m)
*Allah Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, *Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande (T), *Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, *Ryan Rickelton, Shardul Thakur (T), *Sherfane Rutherford (T), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, *Trent Boult, *Will Jacks.
Punjab Kings (PBKS): 21 retained | 6 overseas | Spent: ₹113.50 cr (≈ $13.62m) | Cap left: ₹11.50 cr (≈ $1.38m)
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, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Rajasthan Royals (RR): 16 retained | 7 overseas | Spent: ₹108.95 cr (≈ $13.07m) | Cap left: ₹16.05 cr (≈ $1.93m)
Dhruv Jurel, *Donovan Ferreira (T), *Jofra Archer, *Kwena Maphaka, *Lhuan-Dre Pretorious, *Nandre Burger, Ravindra Jadeja (T), Riyan Parag, *Sam Curran (T), Sandeep Sharma, *Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Charak.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB): 17 retained | 6 overseas | Spent: ₹108.60 cr (≈ $13.03m) | Cap left: ₹16.40 cr (≈ $1.97m)
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, Yash Dayal.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): 15 retained | 6 overseas | Spent: ₹99.50 cr (≈ $11.94m) | Cap left: ₹25.50 cr (≈ $3.06m)
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 Ravichandaran, *Travis Head, Zeeshan Ansari.
