KKR IPL 2026 Retentions: Know Kolkata Knight Riders' full list of retained and released players ahead of mini auction

Three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winner Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made a lot of changes in their squad before the mini auction of the cash-rich league as they have released their star player Venkatesh Iyer after buying him for a whopping 23.05 Crores before the mega auction of the last edition of the tournament. Apart from that, the franchise also parted ways with their seasoned all-rounder Andre Russell.

The 37-year-old Russell was retained by KKR for Rs 12 crore and occupied one of the Rs 18 crore retention slots ahead of the mega auction last year, but his poor showing in IPL 2025 has seen the side release him. The franchise made a lot of changes after they failed to defend their title in the IPL 2024.

List of KKR's retained players:

Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Luvnith Sisodia, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ramandeep Singh, Ankul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Spencer Johnson.

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List of KKR's released players:

Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Moeen Ali, Anrich Nortje

Trade-out

Mayank Markande (to MI)

How did KKR fare last year?

The three-time champions had a disappointing campaign during the IPL 2025 season. Under the leadership of new captain Ajinkya Rahane, the team finished in eighth position and failed to qualify for the playoffs. This poor result marked a significant drop in performance compared to their championship-winning season in 2024.