As all franchises lock in their squads ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction, each team has retained a core that represents its identity for the upcoming season. Here’s a complete team-wise breakdown of the top three retained playersbased on seniority, impact and importance within each squad.

Top 3 retained players – Team-wise

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

• MS Dhoni

• Travel Giikwad

• Sanju Samson

Delhi Capitals (DC)

• KL Rahul

• Axar Patel

• Kuldeep Yadav

Gujarat Titans (GT)

• Shubman Gill

• Rashid Khan

• If Buttler

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

• Sunil Narine

• Rinku Singh

• Varun Chakraborty

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

• Nicholas Pooran

• Mayank Yadav

• Mohammed Shami

Mumbai Indians (MI)

• Rohit Sharma

• jasprit bumrah

• Suryakumar Yadav

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

• Shreyas Iyer

• Arshdeep Singh

• Yuzvendra Chahal

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

• Ravindra Jadeja

• Sam Curran

• Yashasvi Jaiswal

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

• Virat Kohli

• Josh Hazlewood

• Phil Salt

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

• Pat Cummins

• Travis Head

• Heinrich Klaasen