The IPL 2026 retention list has been revealed by the Indian Premier League franchises. Some franchises have decided to keep almost the entire team for the next season to retain the success of the previous year while the others have gone for radical changes after their poor performance in the IPL 2025. The released players list of IPL 2026, however, contained a couple of surprising big names which would be the cause of bidding battle among the teams at the IPL 2026 auction.
We will see the five top most players whom the franchises would be eager to buy for the IPL 2026.
Players Likely To Fetch Big Money in The Upcoming IPL Auction
Andre Russell
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder is the most surprising name on the IPL 2026 released players list. Although the veteran Caribbean player’s stats had seen a downfall in the recent seasons, the expectations of the KKR fans were that the management would continue with their veteran finisher.
But it is surprising that the Knights, after a long 12-year association, have come to a conclusion that they won’t work with Andre Russell anymore. Yet, the franchise may decide to bring back the INR 12 crore recruit at a discounted price in the IPL 2026 auction.
Co-offering along with KKR, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are also likely to make a tough biding for the Caribbean hitter. As these three franchises will enter into the IPL 2026 auction with the maximum budgets, Russell is going to get a huge sum for the next season.
Venkatesh Iyer
The left-handed batsman has been climbing the ladder rapidly since his debut for KKR in the IPL 2021 which was nothing short of a blockbuster. The Kolkata management had to spend a whopping INR 23.75 crore to bring him back into the fold after a forced release right before the IPL 2025 mega auction.
However, the pressure of the price-tag was too much to bear for Venkatesh Iyer as he was only able to score 142 runs in 11 matches during the whole season. Nevertheless, the batter might get a chance in a few teams for IPL 2026. The Men in Purple may also be interested to get the player back along with Russell at a price that is acceptable.
In addition, the reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had expressed their desire to acquire the Madhya Pradesh batsman in the past. They have a budget of INR 16.04 crore and only a few slots to fill, thus they might be willing to bid heavily for the 30-year-old especially after the release of Mayank Agarwal.
Ravi Bishnoi
After two successive disastrous performances, one of which was leaking runs at a very costly economy of 10.83 in IPL 2025, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have decided to part ways with their main leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. On top of that, the emergence of a strong debut season for Digvesh Rathi also facilitated LSG to release INR 11 crores prior to IPL 2026 auction.
However, CSK and SRH, who have one of the biggest budgets before the mini auction, may consider acquiring the 25-year-old. Notably, the Chennai teams are likely to be in the market for spinners ahead of next season’s cash-rich league. Whereas the Orange Army would also look for replacements since they have already added Adam Zampa and Rahul Chahar to the list of released players 2026.
Liam Livingstone
The English all-rounder surprisingly had a disappointing season with RCB’s historic victorious run in the IPL 2025. Liam Livingstone’s debut for the Bengaluru team consisted of just 112 runs and two wickets.
Nonetheless, franchises like KKR and LSG are in need of an overseas power hitter after letting go of Russell and David Miller, respectively. They might end up fighting for the England player following his good all-round show in The Hundred 2025.
Matheesha Pathirana
The Sri Lankan kid is yet another shocker among the IPL 2026 released players. CSK have decided to let go of the pacer just before the IPL 2026 auction despite having a successful run of 4 editions, scalps of 47 wickets in 32 matches at an economy of 8.68.
KKR might be looking at Matheesha Pathirana after they put Spencer Johnson and Chetan Sakariya on the KKR released players 2026 list. The IPL 2016 champions, SRH, may also want to take the 22-year-old into their squad after letting go of Mohammed Shami and Simarjeet Singh.
