Three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday, November 15, revealed the list of players they have retained and released from the team.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) remained in the headlines during the trade window but were unable to sign any mega deals with other Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises.
According to reports, after Abhishek Nair was appointed as the head coach, he tried his best to get the services of KL Rahul. However, Delhi Capitals (DC) were in no mood to part with star wicketkeeper-batsman Rahul and flatly rejected KKR’s request.
One franchise they didn’t say ‘no’ to was Mumbai Indians (MI), as the Knight Riders traded young leg spinner Mayank Markandey to the five-match champions.
Additionally, they parted ways with some very big names. They released their trusted all-rounder Andre Russell, which was a big surprise, and also released their most expensive player Venkatesh Iyer, who was bought for Rs 23.75 crore.
KKR also decided to drop Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Spencer Johnson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, Lavigne Sisodia and Chetan Sakariya.
List of players retained by Kolkata Knight Riders:
Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakraborty, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik.
List of players released by Kolkata Knight Riders:
Lavnith Sisodia, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Moeen Ali, Spencer Johnson, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya
List of players traded and released by KKR:
Mayank Markande (Joined from MI)
Former India batting coach not surprised by Andre Russell’s exit from KKR
In a video shared by ESPN Cricinfo on its X handle, former India national cricket team batting coach Sanjay Bangar was asked if he was surprised by Andre Russell being released.
Responding to this, Sanjay Bangar said that he is not surprised at all and has seen the end of the long-standing relationship between KKR and Andre Russell. He said that the all-rounder was not properly utilized by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the last season.
“Not really (when asked if he was surprised by Andre Russell being released). Because there were indications that KKR might not be utilizing the services of the batsman Russell because most of the time he batted lower down the order and was also used as a bowler as he barely bowled his full quota of four overs in many of the matches he played last season. So, there were indications that perhaps Russell might have to, you know, ply his trade to another franchise. Will happen,” Sanjay Bangar said.
Meanwhile, after retaining and releasing players, Kolkata Knight Riders have a huge purse of Rs 64.3 crore, the highest among all the teams. They have 13 spots open in the team, including six for foreign players.
Also read: Shocking! Kolkata Knight Riders have released Andre Russell ahead of IPL 2026 auction.