Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced a disappointing IPL 2025 campaign, failing to defend their title and missing out on the playoffs with just 5 wins in 13 matches.
The season saw underwhelming performances from some of their marquee players, including Venkatesh Iyer who was KKR's most expensive buy in IPL 2025 at a whopping Rs23.75 crore but managed only 142 runs in 11 games. This poor return on investment has raised questions on the squad construction and retention strategy of the franchise.
To rebuild and strengthen their squad for the IPL 2026 auction, KKR can look at releasing six players who carry a combined salary burden of around Rs40 crore. These players include Venkatesh Iyer, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Spencer Johnson, Rahmanullah
Gurbaz, and Moeen Ali.
By releasing these six players, KKR will free up approximately Rs40.65 crore in auction purse. This freed budget can be used strategically in the IPL 2026 auction to target quality replacements or fill crucial gaps in the team. KKR's struggle in IPL 2025 was mainly due to batting inconsistency and underperformance from high-price players. With this purse savings, KKR can revamp their batting lineup and bolster their bowling attack to return stronger.
The breakup of the highly successful opening pair from IPL 2024 also impacted their consistency. KKR now face the challenge of making shrewd auction choices in 2026 with the purse freed by releasing these six players, aiming to reclaim their status as serious title contenders.
This financial maneuver will give KKR a significant advantage heading into the IPL 2026 auction and a hoop to rebuild a balanced, competitive squad after an underwhelming IPL 2025 season.
Summary of purse freed by releasing players
| Player | Salary (Crore Rs) |
|---|---|
| Venkatesh Iyer | 23.75 |
| Anrich Nortje | 6.50 |
| Quinton de Kock | 3.60 |
| Spencer Johnson | 2.80 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | 2.00 |
| Moeen Ali | 2.00 |
| Total | 40.65 Crore |
Do Kolkata Knight Riders need to release any Retained Players from IPL 2025?
KKR retained six players coming into the mega auction for IPL 2025. The Knight Riders do have a strong core in their side, which resulted in their six retentions - Rinku Singh (Rs 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore), Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 crore).
From these six players, the Knight Riders are likely to retain all of them for the IPL 2026 season, who were all a part of their title winning side in IPL 2024.
