Kolkata Knight Riders is shaking things up big time! The team finished 8th last season and that hurt badly. KKR knows they need major changes to compete again. New coach Abhishek Nayar is leading this complete squad makeover. Things are about to get interesting for Purple and Gold fans!
KKR Retained and Released Players List
| Retained Players | Released Players |
| Ajinkya Rahane Rinku Singh Angrish Raghuvanshi Rovman Powell Manish Pandey Sunil Narine Ramandeep Singh Anukul Roy Varun Chakaravarthy Harshit Rana Vaibhav Arora Umran Malik | Andre Russell Venkatesh Iyer Quinton de Kock Moeen Ali Anrich Nortje Mayank Markande Spencer Johnson Chetan Sakariya Rahmanullah Gurbaz Luvnit Sisodia |
Remaining Purse – ₹ 64.3 CR
KKR’s Big Names Getting Released in IPL 2026
Andre Russell is leaving Kolkata Knight Riders. Nobody saw this coming at all. Venkatesh Iyer is out too, even though he earned big money.
Quinton de Kock won’t wear purple anymore in IPL 2026. Moeen Ali was released along with Anrich Nortje. Injuries killed their chances of staying with the Kolkata Knight Riders. QDK, Manish Pandey, and Chetan Sakariya might go from the squad.
Knight Riders isn’t messing around with underperforming stars anymore. They want winners, not just famous names sitting around. The management knows last season was embarrassing, and changes had to happen.
KKR Retained Players For IPL 2026
Now here’s the good news for Kolkata Knight Riders fans! Star finisher Ajinkya Rahane is staying with the team. Rinku Singh will continue smashing sixes in purple colours. Sunil Narine remains their go-to spinner and opener.
Varun Chakravarthy is staying as their mystery spin weapon. Young talent Angkrish Raghuvanshi is staying too. These retained players bring experience and hunger to win together.
Kolkata Knight Riders will enter the auction with a ₹64 crore budget. That’s decent money to shop for quality cricketers. KKR needs a death-overs specialist bowler desperately right now.
They’re hunting for Andre Russell’s backup all-rounder too. Cameron Green and Ben Duckett are on their target list. An Indian wicketkeeper-batter is also needed after de Kock’s departure.
Knight Riders want balance over big names in IPL 2026. The retention shows they’re building a team, not just collecting stars.
