The 2026 IPL retention window is on and it will complete on 15th November 2025 when all the 10 teams have to submit their list of the Retained and Released Players ahead of the auction in December. Chennai Super Kings are the team with the most to ponder about. They pulled off a major trade with the Rajasthan Royals, acquiring Sanju Samson in exchange for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. CSK finished last in IPL 2025 .
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Released Players ahead of IPL 2026 Auction
Ravindra Jadeja - Traded to Rajasthan Royals
Matheesha Pathirana - 13 Cr
Ravichandran Ashwin – 9.75 Cr
Devon Conway – 6.25 Cr
Rachin Ravindra - 4 Cr
Rahul Tripathi – 3.40 Cr
Deepak Hooda – 1.70 Cr
Vijay Shankar – 1.20 Cr
Sam Curran – Traded to Rajasthan Royals
Gurjapneet Singh – 2.20 Cr
Shaik Rasheed
Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Vansh Bedi
Andre Siddharth
A total of 13 Players are released by Chennai Super Kings. Out of these, Matheesha Pathirana was the most expensive one. Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from the IPL. Devon Conway has been a strong point for the team but his valuation is high and the team can release him and then buy him back at the auction for a cheaper price. Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda and Vijay Shankar were not good with the bat last season. CSK have young players that will play a more attacking approach and these 3 players do not fit the mold. Sam Curran was also an expensive all rounder so they can release him.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Retention List for IPL 2026
Ruturaj Gaekwad
Shivam Dube
MS Dhoni
Noor Ahmed*
Khaleel Ahmed
Anshul Kamboj
Dewald Brevis*
Ayush Mhatre
Urvil Patel
Shreyas Gopal
Ramakrishna Ghosh
Jamie Overton*
Mukesh Choudhary
Nathan Ellis*
Gurjanpreet Singh
Sanju Samson - Traded in from Rajasthan Royals
These Retained Players are proof that CSK have pivoted to the youth of the cricket world. Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Noor Ahmed and Anshul Kamboj are the future of this team and they all play an attacking style of cricket with both bat and ball. Senior Players such as Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaekwad, MS Dhoni, Khaleel Ahmed will provide the experience.
Conclusion
Chennai Super Kings will go into the Auction with the purse of 43.4 Crore and they will need to bolster their core with young players. They will need a destructive top order batter like Travis Head that will bat at a strike rate of 200. CSK also need a middle order batting all rounder like Axar Patel if they will trade Ravindra Jadeja to Rajasthan Royals. Noor Ahmed is the spinner but having another frontline spinner will immensely help the team. In conclusion Chennai Super Kings need a lot of work at the Auction and they have to hope that the other teams release a lot of players out of which they could buy the players that they want.
