Here Are the Players That Kolkata Knight Riders Released and Retained for IPL 2026

The team finished eighth on the points table, well outside the race for the playoffs, which was a huge disappointment for a side with such a strong history in the league. Out of the fourteen matches they played, they won only five, and at no stage did they look settled. Several of their trusted performers could not find their best touch, which left the team short of match-winning contributions throughout the season. Because of this overall dip, fans had been expecting changes, but the final retention list still managed to surprise many. The choices made by the franchise suggest a clear intention to rebuild the core of the team and move ahead with a stronger, more focused approach.

Starting the list of the retained players for the Kolkata Knight Riders, the first player was Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of the team in the IPL 2025 who managed to make a total of 390 runs from the 12 innings played at an average of 35.45 for the team and for the IPL 2026 season, the Kolkata Knight Riders might be continuing with him as the captain of the ship again. Coming to the middle order of the team, the team has managed to retain the young Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who has been a solid player for the team for the last two seasons now. 

Continuing the list of the top order players, Manish Pandey, who made 92 runs from the 3 innings played, has also been retained by the team ahead of the IPL 2026 season. The finisher Ramandeep Singh, who scored 47 runs from 7 innings, has also been retained by the team. The fourth name on the list is Rinku Singh, who has made 206 runs from the 11 innings played at an average of 29.42. Despite having an average season with the bat, the team management has decided to retain their finishers for the upcoming season.

• Ajinkya Rahane
• Angkrish Raghuvanshi
• Anukul Roy
• Harshit Rana
• Manish Pandey
• Ramandeep Singh
• Rinku Singh
• ⁠Rovman Powell (Foreign)
• Sunil Narine (Foreign)
• Umran Malik
• Vaibhav Arora
• Varun Chakaravarthy

When it comes to the bowling department, the team management has decided to retain the majority of the players. Starting the list with Sunil Narine, he managed to pick 12 wickets from the 12 matches played, and being a KKR Legend, the team management has decided to retain him. Coming to the Indian bowlers, Harshit Rana is another name who has his name in the list of the retained players. He picked up 15 wickets from the 13 matches played in the last season for the team, while Vaibhav Arora, with 17 wickets in the 12 matches, has also been retained by the team.

Coming to another Indian player who has been retained by the team, Varun Chakaravarthy, who picked 17 wickets from the 13 matches, will be leading the spin department. Umran Malik has also been retained by the team, who will be a great addition on the Eden Gardens pitches. Bringing the West Indies power to the KKR Camp, Rovman Powell, who played just 1 match last season, has also been retained by the team.

Released Players

Another release, which came as a shock for the fans, was of Venkatesh Iyer, who managed just 142 runs from the 7 innings played at an average of 20.28. Quinton de Kock has also been released by the team as he got 152 runs from the 8 matches, while another player named Moeen Ali, who picked 6 wickets from the 5 matches has also been released by the team. 

KKR Released Players List:

From the bowlers' list, the KKR management has released Spencer Johnson, who played 4 matches for the team and picked just 1 wicket. Coming to Anrich Nortje, the fast bowler has been released after he picked just 1 wicket from the 2 matches played for the team. 

Purse Remaining

Now, the Kolkata Knight Riders will be entering the IPL 2026 Auction with a total purse of INR 64.3 Crore, which is the highest amongst all the teams. After releasing the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell, the team will be going into the Auction with a heavy purse and will look to build a solid core again. 

With 13 slots to fill and having a chance to add 6 new overseas players, the IPL 2026 Auction might be a proper shopping day for the Kolkata Knight Riders team.