Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction Around the corner, teams began finalizing their lineups ahead of the much-anticipated mini-auction. Holding decisions made by franchises are pivotal as they set the tone for strategy, budget allocations and team balance for the upcoming season. With several marquee players, fans and analysts are watching to see how these picks shape the competitive dynamic. This year’s catch-up phase underscored Xi’s confidence in key Indian players while balancing a strategic talent pool to maximize its potential.
IPL 2026 Retention: Key Indian Players Retained By Franchises
Ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction, franchises have retained several key Indian players who are expected to be the backbone of their respective teams. Gujarat titans they protected the captain Shubman Gill along with a strong Indian condition including Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Mohammad Sirajand Prasidh Krishna. Royal Paintings Bengaluru (RCB) continues to rely on Stalwarts as Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkaland Bhuvneshwar kumarBalances experienced batsmen and bowlers. Mumbai Indians they kept their nuclear Indian line to themselves Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (captain), Jasprit Bumrahand Do not prayshows confidence in proven performers. Sunrisers Hyderabad kept Abhishek Sharma and Ishan is shackled With a mix of Indian pace bowlers and every bowler Kings of the Punjab they showed confidence Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singhand Yuzvendra Chahal among others.
Chennai super kings including turned into their trusted Indian talents Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, Shivam Dubeand Khalel Ahmedmaintaining the stability that makes them perennial candidates. Rajasthan Royals catching promising names like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Paragand Dhruv jurelpays attention to youth development. Kolkata Knight Riders secured the services of experienced Indian players like Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandeyand Varun chakraborty. Delhi Capitals’ catching options include their captain Akhar Patel and Kl rahulas supported by in-house talent Abhishek porel and Kuldeep Yadav. Meanwhile, they retained star Indian players including Lucknow Super Giants Rishabh Pant (Captain), Avesh Khanand MAYACK YADAV build a healthy core.
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Complete list of players ahead of IPL 2026 mini auction
Complete catch list of players retained by all IPL franchises for the 2026 season:
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sinder, Washington Sinder, Washington Sindar, Shahukh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Lhant Sharma, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav.
Royal Paintings Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Duz, Jitesh Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Swapnil Singh, Jach Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma.
Mumbai Indians: RoHit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak varma, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Raj Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Raghu Sharma, am Ghazanfar.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Pat Cummins, Jaydon Cummins, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari.
Kings of Punjab: Shreyas Iyer Harpeet Brar, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Owen.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Ayush Mhatre, MS Dhoni, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis.
Rajasthan Royals: Shubham Dubey, Kunal Rathore, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, YUHRUV JAISWAL, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Tushar Deshpande Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma, Nandre Burger.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik.
Capitals of Delhi: Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Asutosh Sharma, Vipraj Tijam, Tripreep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera.
Lucknow Super Giants: Abdul Samad, Abdul Samad, Aiden Badoni, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Rishabh Pant (C), Nicholas Cooran, Mitchell Marsh, Arshin Kulkarni, ARSHIN KULKARNI, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Shahzade Yadav, Akash Singh.
With the catch-up phase over, the mini-auction promises to be an exciting affair as teams aim to fill the remaining gaps and strengthen their squads for the IPL 2026 season. While catching options and foreign players add value and depth to squads, there is a strong focus on retaining Indian talent.
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