"I think they will release him" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's potential releases ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) potential releases ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. He opined that Devon Conway will likely be released as the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter wasn't given enough opportunities in IPL 2025 and was bought for a significant sum.

All franchises are supposed to share their retention lists before Saturday, November 15. The IPL 2026 auction is expected to be held a month later.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener reckoned that CSK would potentially release Conway, apart from the already retired Ravichandran Ashwin.

"They will have a long list of retentions. The release list is slightly shorter. So let's focus on that. One guy has already gone. He was a very expensive player, goes by the name of Ravichandran Ashwin. He releases ₹9.75 crore, and that, in my opinion, is a significant sum. Another player who is slightly expensive, and I feel the team will release him, and that's Devon Conway," Chopra said (2:45). "They stayed with Devon Conway for a long time. Devon Conway did well for this team as well, but he had some injury issues last year or the year before that, and the opportunities he was given weren't enough. So I think they will release him, and it's a lot of money - ₹6.25 crore. That makes it ₹16 crore already. You are already sitting in a good place," he added.

Devon Conway scored 156 runs at a strike rate of 131.09 in six innings in IPL 2025. He missed IPL 2024 due to an injury, with the franchise acquiring Richard Gleeson as his replacement.

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"They will have to release Rahul Tripathi" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's other potential releases ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Rahul Tripathi managed only 55 runs at a paltry average of 11.00 in five innings for CSK in IPL 2025. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that CSK should also release Rahul Tripathi.

"They will have to release Rahul Tripathi. He comes for ₹3.40 crore. You should release him because as soon as you do that, another three-and-a-half crores, which means you have already reached nearly ₹20 crore, and you have released just three players. That just releases a lot of money for you to play around," he said (4:10).

The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that the five-time champions will likely not retain Deepak Hooda and Vijay Shankar either.

"After that, you will release Deepak Hooda. He is worth ₹1.70 crore. You will release Vijay Shankar. He is worth ₹1.20 crore. So nearly ₹3 crore will be released here as well. Now you are looking at ₹23 crore," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra noted that CSK can retain Rachin Ravindra as they would release nearly ₹23 crore by letting go of Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda and Vijay Shankar. He opined that the Chennai-based franchise would retain Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre and Urvil Patel, the three players who came in as replacements during IPL 2025.

Edited by Kartik Iyer