Biggest Indian names released by franchises ahead of IPL 2026 auction

New Delhi: All the 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises announced the retained and released list of players ahead of the 2026 mini-auction. The IPL 2026 mini-auction is set to place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi in what will be the third consecutive time for the auction to be held overseas.

Meanwhile, all the IPL franchises had a deadline of November 15, 3 PM to announce the list of players that they are interested in retaining and those they want to release. All the retained players would continue to play for their respective franchises in the next edition of the league while the released players would be up for grabs at the auction.

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This year, with no cap on the number of players to be released, franchises released a lot of players many of which were unexpected big names. While scores of Indian players were released by their respective franchises, a big number of overseas players were also let go of.

Here is a list of big Indian names released by the franchises ahead of IPL 2026 auction.

Three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made a shocking move when they released star player Venkatesh Iyer from their franchise. Iyer's IPL value had soared from a base price of Rs 20 lakh in 2021 to a staggering amount of Rs 23.75 crore at the mega--auction in 2025. In the last season, Iyer experineced a dismal run as he could just score 142 runs  in 11 matches. The franchise has decided to enter the auction with a larger purse with an aim to strengthen their middle order.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) released their star leg-spinner Rahul Chahar in what was another big Indian name being released from a franchise. Chahar, who's base price was Rs 1 crore, was purchased by the SRH side for Rs 3.2 crore at the mega-auction in 2025. In the last season, he could only play a single game for SRH where he bowled just one over giving away 9 runs and returned wicketless. A franchise like Mumbai Indians, which is in need of a spinner, can go for Chahal at the upcoming auction.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) let go of their premier spinner Ravi Bishnoi on Saturday, making it another big Indian name to be released by a franchise. Bishnoi was retained by LSG ahead of the IPL 2025 for his price of Rs 11 crore. The spinner, who was with LSG from its inception, managed nine wickets in 11 games in the last season of the cash-rich league. He was overshadowed by Digvesh Rathi, who claimed 14 wickets and with a much better economy rate.

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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) released another big Indian name in form of pacer Akash Deep ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction. The Indian pacer was bought by the Super Giants franchise for Rs 8 crore at the 2025 mega-auction and after poor returns in the last season, he was let go of. Akash Deep, who missed the first half of the IPL 2025 due to an injury, played six games and picked up just three wickets.