The D-day is here. All ten Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises must submit their final lists of retained and released players by Saturday, November 15. Several marquee players will learn their fate, and it would be interesting to see who are the ones to be thrown back into the auction pool.
Ahead of the retention deadline, Shardul Thakur and Sherfane Rutherford have already been traded to the Mumbai Indians from Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, respectively.
Sanju Samson and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to be involved in a major marquee trade, with the five-time IPL champions CSK acquiring the former from the Rajasthan Royals. While the inaugural winners of the tournament will get the services of the premier all-rounder. Venkatesh Iyer, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder, who was picked up for INR 23.75 crore in the mega auction last year, is also expected to be released by the three-time champions.
The retention process is the first step in forming a stable squad, and it will culminate in the mini auction, set to take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16. There is no mega auction around this time, hence there is no restriction on the number of players a team can retain.
The teams can retain any number of players from their current squad, provided the rules are followed: a squad size of up to a maximum of 25 players and a salary cap limit of INR 120 crore.
It is also worth noting that teams can conduct trades even after announcing their retention lists for IPL 2026. The trading window, which opened up on June 4, a day after the IPL 2025 final, will remain open until one week before the IPL auction (December 9).
Here are all the streaming and telecast details for the IPL 2026 Retentions:
When will the IPL 2026 Retentions take place?
The IPL 2026 Retentions will take place on Saturday, November 15, at 5 PM IST. The broadcast will begin as soon as the final ball of Day 2 of the first Test between India and South Africa is bowled at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
How can you watch the live broadcast of the IPL 2026 Retentions?
You can watch the IPL 2026 retentions live on TV on the Star Sports Network.
Where can you watch the live streaming of IPL 2026 Retentions?
The IPL 2026 Retentions will be streamed live on the JioHotstar app and website.