Top 5 most shocking releases ahead of IPL 2026 Auction ft. Matheesha Pathirana

The 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises announced their list of retained and released players ahead of the 2026 auction on Saturday, November 15. While several releases were on expected lines, there were some releases that lifted eyebrows.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made the most number of releases, letting go of 11 players. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) also released a host of players, making nine and eight releases each, respectively.

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Rajasthan Royals (RR) followed with seven releases each. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), along with Delhi Capitals (DC), let go of six players each. Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Gujarat Titans (GT) made five releases each.

With a lot of big names being let go by various franchises, let us take a look at the five most shocking releases ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.

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#5 Simarjeet Singh (SRH)

SRH released right-arm pacer Simarjeet Singh. He was acquired for ₹1.50 crore ahead of IPL 2025. While he played just four matches and picked up two wickets, his release came as a surprise following Mohammad Shami being traded out.

With Harshal Patel being in the squad, SRH could find some difficulty in having quality Indian pacers in the mix. Simarjeet recently played for India A against Australia A. He has been a genuine wicket-taker with 44 scalps in 39 T20s at an average of 23.22 and an economy of 8.29.

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#4 Ravi Bishnoi (LSG)

Wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi was retained by LSG for a huge sum of ₹11 crore for the IPL 2025 season. He featured in 11 games and bagged nine wickets at an economy of 10.83. Bishnoi joined LSG in 2022 and picked up 48 wickets for them.

While they have Shahbaz Ahmed, who has been around in the IPL for a few seasons, Digvesh Rathi played his first season last year and was impressive. However, with it being Digvesh's first year in the league, LSG could have looked to hold back Bishnoi, who brings experience and has played international cricket for India as well.

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#3 Wanindu Hasaranga (RR)

RR acquired Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga for ₹5.25 crore for the IPL 2025 season. The wrist spinner played 11 matches and picked up as many wickets.

While his performance may not have been as per expectations, it is worth noting that Hasaranga has been in good form in recent times. In the Asia Cup 2025, he was Sri Lanka's leading wicket-taker with eight scalps from six games at an average of 19.50 and an economy of 6.50. Moreover, in their ongoing ODI series against Pakistan, he has bagged three wickets and scored 96 runs with a half-century.

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#2 Andre Russell (KKR)

Among the most shocking releases was that of star all-rounder Andre Russell. KKR let go of him after having retained him for ₹12 crore in IPL 2025. While he scored 167 runs fro 10 innings, he had a strike-rate of 163.72 and bagged eight wickets.

Russell had a long association with KKR, having joined them in 2014. He won two titles with them and played a massive role in their triumph in IPL 2024, scoring 222 runs and bagging 19 wickets. Overall, he has played 133 matches for KKR, piling on 2593 runs at a strike-rate of 174.97 and has picked up 122 wickets. Given is wealth of experience in franchise cricket across the globe, it was a surprising move from KKR to let him go.

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#1 Matheesha Pathirana (CSK)

CSK released Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana in what came as a massive move by the five-time champions. He was retained for ₹13 crore ahead of IPL 2025. The pacer managed to pick up just 13 wickets from 12 matches last season at an economy of 10.13.

However, CSK may face trouble finding an alternative death bowler at the upcoming auction. Pathirana played a key role in their victory in 2023, bagging 19 wickets from 12 games. Given that he has bagged 47 wickets from 32 IPL games for CSK, it was questionable to release a player based on one season, after having scouted and invested in him.

Edited by Rishab Vm