Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) 2026 Retained & Released Players, Purse Balance, Player Salary, Available Slots & Big Trades Updates Ahead of IPL 2026 Auction

Kolkata Knight Riders have officially announced their list of retained & released players ahead of IPL 2026 mini Auction, and the list has shocked everyone. After a poor IPL 2025 season, KKR made some bold decisions to make a better squad for the upcoming seasons. They have released Andre Russell, who has been the face of Kolkata in the IPL and has won many matches.

KKR released 10 players ahead of IPL 2026 mini auction, which includes some big names like Andre Russell, Quinton de Kock, Moeen Ali, and Anrich Nortje. Many Players have quite good performances in the IPL 2025, but still, Kolkata Knight Riders decided to release them; however, since they have the highest purse so they might buy them back.

Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine are some of the key names that have been retained by the three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR needs to pick lots of quality players in the IPL 2026 mini auction to make a strong squad and compete against teams like the Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

KKR Purse Remaining & Available Slots 2026:

Purse remaining: Rs. 64.30 crore

Total Slots available: 13

Overseas slots available: 6

Kolkata Knight Riders have the highest purse remaining among all 10 franchises, and they will enter the IPL 2026 Auction with a purse of Rs. 64.30 crore. KKR is on the way to make a new squad for the upcoming seasons; therefore, they have released some of the big names to have a heavy purse.

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KKR Released Players 2026:

Andre Russell, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodia, Moeen Ali, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Spencer Johnson, Venkatesh Iyer, Mayank Markande.

KKR Retained Players 2026:

Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Varun Charkravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora.

Kolkata Knight Riders Player Salary 2026:

KKR’s Big Trades and Transfer Updates:

Kolkata Knight Riders had only one trade ahead of the IPL 2026 Auction. They traded young Indian spinner Mayank Markande to the Mumbai Indians in an all-cash deal, which means the Mumbai Indians have no player in exchange. 

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