IPL 2026 retentions: Maxwell likely to be released, Mayank could be retained as deadline day nears

New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) With less than 24 hours left for the ten participating teams to finalise their retention plans for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 and showcase the players whom they are going to bid goodbye. With tons of frenzy happening on the discussion tables of all ten teams, it is understood that the larger focus will be on fine-tuning squads rather than pressing the reset button.

Multiple sources have told IANS that Punjab Kings could let go of Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, and Kyle Jamieson, who had come in as a replacement for injured Lockie Ferguson in the mid-way of IPL 2025, where the side finished as runners-up. Mitch Owen, who had come into the PBKS set-up as an injury replacement for Maxwell, is likely to be retained.

On the other side, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have decided to retain young Indian fast bowler Mayank Yadav, who has played only six games in the 2024 and 2025 seasons due to injury issues. Mayank had been retained by LSG for INR 11 crore, but played only two games this year due to a back injury, which resurfaced and needed surgical intervention in New Zealand.

“Mayank has been training and started to bowl at the BCCI CoE facility in Bengaluru, where he has been undergoing rehab for a long time. It is expected that he will be back to full-fledged bowling either in the last week of December or the first week of January, which means clouds of uncertainty over his IPL 2026 availability have been cleared,” said a source familiar with the matter to IANS.

At the same time, this news agency also understands that the likes of Ravi Bishnoi, David Miller, and Shamar Joseph could be released into the auction pool. Three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) could release Venkatesh Iyer, with a possibility that the franchise may try to buy him back in the mini action to be held in Abu Dhabi on either December 15 or 16.

In terms of last-minute trades, IANS understands that the Rajasthan Royals are in definitive talks with KKR over a possible trade of Nitish Rana for a one-way, all clash deal. It remains to be seen which way the trade involving Rana, who was a part of KKR from 2018 to 2024, eventually goes.

KKR could also let go of the South Africa duo of Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje, while a possibility of retaining Ajinkya Rahane looms. KKR was also in talks with the Delhi Capitals for a potential trade of KL Rahul, but at the time of publishing, no definitive word had emerged on it.

Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, may part ways with pacer T. Natarajan, as well as openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Faf du Plessis, apart from a few uncapped players who didn’t get much gametime, while MI is expected to let go of Will Jacks after trading in Shardul Thakur and Sherfane Rutherford on Thursday.

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru could bid goodbye to the likes of Liam Livingstone, Blessing Muzarabani, Yash Dayal, and Rasikh Dar. Five-time winners Chennai Super Kings, who have been in the news of late for a mega trade of Sanju Samson in exchange for letting go of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, may say goodbye to Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, and Jamie Overton.

--IANS

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