On Saturday, November 15, all the 10 teams confirmed their retained and released players apart from some of the trade deals ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season, which is expected to begin
in March of next year. The announcement is critical for the teams to start rebuilding their player roster for the next season and it will also serve as a precursor to the IPL 2026 auction reportedly slated to happen on December 16 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) managed to retained their core team of players after winning the IPL title last season for the first-time ever. It was an easy decision for them to retain the likes of captain Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, and Krunal Pandya, among others while they ended up releasing the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Liam Livingstone, Lungi Ngidi, and a few more.
List of retained and released players for Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of IPL 2026 auction
Retained players: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma, Devdutt Padikkal
Released players: Swastik Chikara, Mayank Agarwal, Tim Seifert, Liam Livingstone, Manoj Bhandage, Lungi Ngidi, Blessing Muzarbani, Mohit Rathee
