New Delhi: There were some shock releases and surprise retentions as all ten Indian Premier League (IPL) teams released their final list of released and retained players ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made the boldest statement ahead of the auction by releasing their vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer, who was their most expensive buy in the IPL 2025 mega auction.

KKR paid a whopping Rs 23.75 crore to buy back Iyer in the IPL mega auction last year, but decided to release him after he failed to deliver last season. KKR also parted ways with their superstar all-rounder Andre Russell, who was one of the longest-serving players at the franchise alongside Sunil Narine. Russell was retained by KKR for Rs 12 crore ahead of IPL 2025.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) also made their intentions clear by releasing a total of nine players after trading Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to Rajasthan Royals (RR) for Sanju Samson. They let go of Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who they retained for Rs 14 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 auction,........

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