IPL 2026 Kolkata Knight Riders KKR Best Retained Squad Players List

Venkatesh Iyer’s place doubtful in our best retained squad players list for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. 

From being the most strategically advanced team in IPL 2024 to the worst strategically placed in IPL 2025, the Kolkata Knight Riders have put on quite a show in the last two years. Everything was going well with the Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir combo, but some poor behind-the-scenes strategic decisions, and losing their two key persons, Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir, ahead of the Mega Auction led to their downfall in IPL 2025. 

IPL 2025 was an eye-opener for the KKR team, as the team was exposed to some poor strategic decisions. One of the few mistakes includes hiring Venkatesh Iyer for a whopping ~24 Cr when you know he can’t give you a 500 runs season, can’t bowl either due to the impact player rule, and can’t captain the side either. This was a bummer from the team, and the one that showcases their unstable thought process. Aside from this, the use of Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, and Ramandeep Singh was a shocker from the team management. 

Nevertheless, the team now gears up for the upcoming edition of the IPL, and they have many important questions to answer. Will they continue to retain Venkatesh Iyer, will they continue to invest in Quinton de Kock, who was dropped from the team, and how will they go about their pace bowling, which lacks the firepower? Well, let’s explore all these queries, and find out the best retained and released players list for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. 

KKR Retained Players List 2026 Explained

If we talk about the core of Kolkata Knight Riders that should be retained without a second thought, we are looking at 9 members. Among the confirmed retained players for KKR for IPL 2026, we have Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, and Ramandeep Singh among batters. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine among the all-rounders. Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Vaibhav Arora among the bowlers. 

These 9 form the core of KKR, so should be retained without a second thought. With just 2 Overseas players from these 9 players, the other Overseas players who should be retained by KKR include Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, and Anrich Nortje. These four players, including de Kock, who was dropped from the team midway, have good potential, and the team management should be able to extract value from them in the upcoming edition.

Aside from these 13 players, three more players will be on radar, and those are Anukul Roy, Umran Malik, and Mayank Markande. While Anukul Roy has been with the team for a few years now, Umran and Mayank have good experience with them, and these two should play some role next year or onwards for KKR. So, overall, expect KKR to retain 16 players, with 6 being Overseas players. They will have roughly 30 Cr if they retain these players, and a potential to add 9 more players.   

IPL 2026 Best Released Players List for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) 

1. Manish Pandey
2. Rovman Powell (o)
3. Venkatesh Iyer
4. Spencer Johnson (o)
5. Luvnith Sisodiya
6. Chetan Sakariya
7. Shivam Shukla

Now, talking about the expected released players, the first name that KKR will debate the most is Venkatesh Iyer. KKR bought Venky Iyer for a whopping 23.75 Cr in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, but his performance, combined with KKR’s trust in him, was not even worth 3 Cr. With such poor returns, it would be foolish of KKR to still retain Iyer for such a hefty amount. If KKR have even some business sense, they should release Iyer, and buy him back at a lesser price, if at all. Even if they don’t do it, it is fine as they have the batting order, even without him. 

Aside from Venkatesh Iyer, KKR might release the likes of Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodiya, Chetan Sakariya, and Shivam Shukla. These players don’t add much value to the team, and while a few players played a few matches without being impressive, the others were not given a chance, even when KKR had the opportunity. So, expect KKR to release 7 players from the team.

IPL 2026 Best Retained Squad and Players List for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) 

Batters: Ajinkya Rahane, Ramandeep Singh & Rinku Singh

Wicket-keepers: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Quinton de Kock (o) & Rahmanullah Gurbaz (o)

All-rounders: Andre Russell (o), Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali (o) & Sunil Narine (o)

Bowlers: Anrich Nortje (o), Harshit Rana, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora & Varun Chakravarthy

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