The IPL 2026 mini-auction, which is to be held on 16 December 2026 in Abu Dhabi, is preparing to be one of the most dramatic mid-cycle bidding campaigns in league history. Blockbuster deals, outrageous releases, and huge purse balances are all in line, as teams are gearing up to engage each other in a fierce battle to restructure and reaffirm before the 2026 season. Two of the past champions of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), will be the leading players in the mini-auction, as they have the highest remaining purses following the aggressive retention bids and headline-grabbing transfers.
KKR & CSK Lead the Auction Charge with Biggest Purses
Ahead of the auction, KKR, which has a substantial purse of ₹63.4 crore (approximately $1.2 billion), has released several high-priced players, including Venkatesh Iyer (₹23.75 crore) and Andre Russell (₹12 crore), signaling a major restructuring. The franchise has released Quinton de Kock, Moeen Ali, and Anrich Nortje but still has a strong squad featuring Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, and Ajinkya Rahane. With 13 slots available (six overseas), KKR is likely to be the most aggressive franchise in the auction.
CSK will enter this mini-auction with ₹40 crore (approximately $1.2 billion), primarily generated by releasing senior players and a few overseas players. They will reorganize their bowling attack and could reacquire Mathisha Pathirana or select Ben Stokes, depending on his availability after the Ashes. They are marquee in their deal when they traded Sanju Samson to CSK; however, they also released Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Hooda, and Pathirana in what is one of the most active pre-auction phases in IPL history.
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IPL 2026: Team Purse Remaining for All Teams Ahead of Mini-Auction
| Team | Purse Remaining (₹ Crore) |
| KKR | 64.30 |
| CSK | 43.40 |
| LSG | 22.95 |
| DC | 21.80 |
| SRH | 25.50 |
| RCB | 16.40 |
| RR | 16.05 |
| GT | 12.90 |
| PBKS | 11.50 |
| MI | 2.75 |
TEAM-BY-TEAM RETAINED & RELEASED PLAYERS LIST (IPL 2026)
Below is the complete breakdown of each franchise’s retention decisions, releases, and key trades.
GUJARAT TITANS (GT)
Retained: 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: Mahipal Lomror, Karim Janat, Dasun Shanaka, Gerald Coetzee, Kulwant Khejroliya
Traded Out: Sherfane Rutherford (to MI)
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS (LSG)
Retained: Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, M Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh
Released: Ravi Bishnoi, David Miller, Akash Deep, Aryan Juyal, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Traded In: Mohammed Shami (SRH), Arjun Tendulkar (MI)
Traded Out: Shardul Thakur (to MI)
DELHI CAPITALS (DC)
Retained: Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana
Released: Mohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Sediqullah Atal, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Manvanth Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, Donovan Ferreira
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR)
Retained: 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: Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Moeen Ali, Anrich Nortje
Traded Out: Mayank Markande
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (CSK)
Retained: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary
Released: Rahul Tripathi, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddharth, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Shaik Rasheed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Matheesha Pathirana
Traded In: Sanju Samson
Traded Out: Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE (RCB)
Retained: 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, Suyash Sharma
Released: Liam Livingstone, Swastik Chikara, Mayank Agarwal, Tim Seifert, Manoj Bhandage, Lungi Ngidi, Blessing Muzarabani, Mohit Rathee
PUNJAB KINGS (PBKS)
Retained: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Musheer Khan, Vishnu Vinod, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar
Released: Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Praveen Dubey
RAJASTHAN ROYALS (RR)
Retained: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Luhan Dre Pretorius, Shubham Dube, Donovan Ferreira (from DC), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja (from CSK), Sam Curran, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Yudhvir Singh
Released: Kunal Rathore, Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ashok Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal
MUMBAI INDIANS (MI)
Retained: AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande (Trade In), Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Shardul Thakur (Trade In), Sherfane Rutherford (Trade In), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Will Jacks
Released: Bevon Jacobs, Karn Sharma, KL Shrijith, Lizaad Williams, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, PSN Raju, Reece Topley, Vignesh Puthur
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD (SRH)
Retained: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, B. Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Pat Cummins, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari
Released: Abhinav Manohar, Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Wiaan Mulder, Mohammed Shami, Smarjeet Singh, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa
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Final Word
With players like Andre Russell, Maxwell, Livingston, Conway, Pathirana, and David Miller among the members of the IPL 2026 mini-auction pool, the bidding process in Abu Dhabi will certainly redefine franchise dynamics. While KKR and CSK are the most financially sound teams, they still have a clear plan and several key areas to focus on. The battle is likely to be fierce, with backdoor bidding possible, and the mini-auction could be more unpredictable than ever.