Last season was actually quite rough for the Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR ended up stuck at eighth position in IPL 2025. That’s way too low for a team with three trophies. Now they’re planning some big changes before IPL 2026 starts.
KKR Released Players 2026 Complete List
- Venkatesh Iyer
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)
- Moeen Ali
- Manish Pandey
- Rovman Powell
- Mayank Markande
- Anrich Nortje
- Umran Malik
- Chetan Sakariya
The KKR released players 2026 potential list has raised some eyebrows. Venkatesh Iyer is leaving despite being a decent all-rounder. Though they might grab him back at a cheaper price. Rahmanullah Gurbaz won’t wear purple and gold anymore in IPL 2026.
Moeen Ali is heading out too after an average stint. Manish Pandey and Rovman Powell didn’t cut it either. Mayank Markande, Anrich Nortje, Umran Malik, and Chetan Sakariya are likely to go. That’s released players walking out the door right there.
All these exits will pump serious money into KKR’s wallet. They need that cash to fix whatever went wrong.
Core Players Kolkata Knight Riders Will Keep for IPL 2026
Captain Ajinkya Rahane isn’t going anywhere for IPL 2026. Quinton de Kock keeps the gloves behind the stumps again. Andre Russell still packs those massive sixes everyone loves watching. His power-hitting wins matches out of nowhere sometimes.
Rinku Singh has grown into a middle-order star for them. Sunil Narine does his thing with both bat and ball. These five guys are staying put no matter what.
Trade Rumours and Auction Strategy
People keep talking about KL Rahul joining Kolkata Knight Riders soon. Sanju Samson’s name pops up in discussions too lately. But nothing’s happened yet from those trade whispers floating around.
November 15 is when KKR submits everything to IPL officials. They blew tons of cash before but got nothing back. This time around they’re thinking things through more carefully.
The IPL 2026 mini-auction will show if KKR learned anything. Fans want better signings than the ones that happened last time.
