RCB 2026 Retained & Released Players, Purse Balance, Player Salary, Available Slots & Big Trades Updates Ahead of IPL 2026 Auction
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has officially announced their list of retained & released players ahead of IPL 2026 Auction after the deadline for the IPL Retention ends. RCB won their maiden IPL title earlier this year after a long trophy drought; however, they kept their strong and experienced core for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru has released seven players ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Some of the shocking big names were Liam Livingstone, Mayank Agarwal, and Lungi Ngidi, who have been playing in the Indian Premier League for quite a long time. But these players didn’t perform well in the last edition; therefore team management decided to release them.
As expected, RCB retained the core group, which helped them to lift their first IPL trophy in 2025. Virat Kohli, Skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, Krunal Pandya, Yash Dayal, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are some of the core players who were retained along with others.
RCB Purse Remaining & Available Slots 2026:
Purse remaining: Rs. 16.40 crore
Total Slots available: 8
Overseas slots available: 2
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will enter the IPL 2026 auction with Rs. 16.40 crore, and with this purse, they can aggressively go for one big player. However, RCB may target one quality all-rounder and pacer each, who can fill the gaps to defend the title in the upcoming season.
RCB Released Players 2026:
Liam Livingstone, Mayank Agarwal, Swastik Chikara, Manoj Bhandage, Lungi Ngidi, Blessing Muzarabani, Mohit Rathee
RCB Retained Players 2026:
Rajat Patidar (Captain), Virat Kohli, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Suyash Sharma.
RCB Player Salary 2026:
|
Player |
Sold Price (INR Cr) |
|
Virat Kohli |
21 |
|
Josh Hazlewood |
12.5 |
|
Phil Salt |
11.5 |
|
Rajat Patidar |
11 |
|
Jitesh Sharma |
11 |
|
Bhuvneshwar Kumar |
10.75 |
|
Rasikh Salam |
6 |
|
Krunal Pandya |
5.75 |
|
Yash Dayal |
5 |
|
Tim David |
3 |
|
Suyash Sharma |
2.6 |
|
Jacob Bethell |
2.6 |
|
Devdutt Padikkal |
2 |
|
Nuwan Thushara |
1.6 |
|
Romario Shepherd |
1.5 |
|
Swapnil Singh |
0.5 |
|
Abhinandan Singh |
0.3 |
RCB’s Big Trades and Transfer Updates:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru didn’t have any major high-profile trades ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. They preferred going with their existing core and will be looking to add some quality players and young talents through the auction.
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