The biggest news surrounding this year’s IPL is that even though the 2026 IPL is still quite some time away, there is already immense excitement among cricket fans. This excitement has increased further after the mega auction held in Abu Dhabi, as the auction brought about surprising changes in the composition of each team.
With major team transfers, record-breaking prices, and surprising trades—all indications suggest that the IPL 2026 Team Squads will surpass all previous seasons.
If you are looking for the complete player list and auction updates for your favorite team, then this article is for you. Here, we will discuss in detail the retained, auctioned, and traded players of all ten teams.
IPL 2026 Team Squads: The main attraction of the auction
The biggest surprise of this year’s auction for every team was the intense bidding war for stars like Cameron Green and Rishabh Pant. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made history by including Green in their squad. On the other hand, Lucknow Super Giants have retained Rishabh Pant at a huge price. Overall, the teams have created a great combination of domestic and foreign players to maintain their balance.
Let’s take a look at the detailed information about the IPL 2026 team squads.
1. Chennai Super Kings (‘CSK)—’Thala’ and Samson’s magic
IPL 2026 team squads Chennai surprised everyone before this year’s auction by trading Ravindra Jadeja to Rajasthan Royals in exchange for Sanju Samson. On the other hand, by retaining MS Dhoni in the ‘uncapped’ category, they have held onto their Thala (leader), proving once again that Thala is there for a reason, just as he has been for the past 18 years.
WK-BATSMAN: MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Kartik Sharma, Urvil Patel
BATSMAN: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan
ALL-ROUNDERS: Shivam Dube, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew William Short, Aman Khan, and Zak Foulkes.
BOWLERS: Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmed, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry. Rahul Chahar.
2. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)—A record-breaking team
KKR was the most aggressive team in this year’s auction because they had the most money among all the teams in the IPL 2026 Team Squads. They set a record by buying Cameron Green for ₹25.20 crore. However, according to IPL rules, a portion of this amount will go to the BCCI.
WK-BATSMAN: Finn Allen, Tejasvi Singh, Tim Seifert
BATSMAN: Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Cameron Green, Rahul Tripathi, Rovman Powell.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Anukul Roy, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, and Ramandeep Singh.
BOWLERS: Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Matheesaha Pathirana, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Mustafizur Rahaman, Akash Deep, and Umran Malik.
3. Mumbai Indians (MI)—Returning to their old tradition
IPL 2026 Team Squads, Although much has been said about the chemistry between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, the MI management has placed its trust in experienced players. They have brought Shardul Thakur back into the team once again.
WK-BATSMAN: Ryan Rickelton, Robin Minz, and Quinton De Kock.
BATSMAN: Rohit Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Sherfane Rutherford, Danish Malewar.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Raj Angad Bawa, Atharva Ankolekar, Mayank Rawat, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks, and Shardul Thakur.
BOWLERS: Trent Boult, Mayank Markande, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Raghu Sharma, Mohammad Izhar, Allah Ghazanfar, and Jasprit Bhumrah.
4. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)—the defending champions.
IPL 2026 Team Squads: Virat Kohli’s dream came true in 2025 after winning his first trophy. Having played for the same team for 18 years, he and his fans experienced huge joy upon becoming champions. RCB wants to continue their winning streak in 2026 as well. Under the leadership of Rajat Patidar, the team is now much more confident.
WK-BATSMAN: Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Jordan Cox.
BATSMAN: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Venkatesh Iyer, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan.
BOWLERS: Josh Hazlewood, Rashikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Yash Dayal.
5. Gujarat Titans (GT)—A celebration of youth
Under the leadership of Shubman Gill, Gujarat has retained the core structure of their IPL 2026 team squads. The inclusion of Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj, and Jos Buttler has made them even stronger.
WK-BATSMAN: Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagar, Anuj Rawat, Tom Banton.
BATSMAN: Shubman Gill, Glenn Phillips.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Jason Holder, Sai Sudharsan, Sharukh Khan.
BOWLERS: Rashid Khan, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Prithvi Raj Varra, Luke Wood, Rahul Tewatia.
6. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)—Rishabh Pant’s new chapter
In the IPL 2026 Team Squads auction, Lucknow placed their biggest bet on Rishabh Pant. They not only included him in the team but also handed him the captaincy once again. To maintain the consistency of the past few seasons, Lucknow has made many changes to their pace bowling and finishing roles this time.
WK-BATSMAN: Rishabh Pant, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Mukul Choudhary.
BATSMAN: Aiden Markaram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Akshat Raghuwanshi.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahamed, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni.
BOWLERS: Mohammad Shami, Avesh Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.
7. Punjab Kings (PBKS)—A new dream under Shreyas Iyer
IPL 2026 Team Squads Punjab Kings have always bought big-name players in the auction, but this time they were much more strategic. Appointing Shreyas Iyer as captain was their biggest move. Their main objective was to bring stability to the middle order.
WK-BATSMAN: Prabhsimran Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Mitch Owen.
BATSMAN: Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Pannu, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Marcus Stoinis, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Priyansh Arya, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Cooper Connolly, and Ben Dwarshuis.
BOWLERS: Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Pravin Dubey, Vishal Nishad, and Lockie Ferguson.
8. Rajasthan Royals (RR)—The partnership of Jadeja and Jofra Archer.
IPL 2026 Team Squads Rajasthan Royals have traded Sanju Samson and have now chosen Ravindra Jadeja as their new icon player. The team’s balance is now much more reliant on all-rounders.
WK-BATSMAN: Donovan Ferreira, Ravi Singh, Dhruv Jurel.
BATSMAN: Shubham Dubbey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Aman Rao Perala, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashavi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ravindra Jadeja, and Sam Curran.
BOWLERS: Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Brijesh Sharma, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger.
9. Delhi Capitals (DC)—New Delhi, led by Axar Patel
IPL 2026 Team Squads: After Rishabh Pant’s departure, Delhi has placed its trust in their local boy, Axar Patel. Delhi has also significantly strengthened their top order with the inclusion of the experienced KL Rahul.
WK-BATSMAN: Kl Rahul, Abhishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Ben Duckett.
BATSMAN: Karun Nair, David Miller, Pathum Nissanka, Sahil Parkash, and Prithvi Shaw.
ALL-ROUNDERS: Axar Patel, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Auqib Dar, Nitish Rana.
BOWLERS: Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Lungisani Nigidi, Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Yadav.
10. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)—The aggressive form of the Orange Army
IPL 2026 team squads Under the leadership of Pat Cummins, Sunrisers Hyderabad, who played aggressive cricket last time, have taken it to a whole new level this season. The partnership between Ishan Kishan and Travis Head is now the most talked-about topic in the IPL.
WK-BATSMAN: Ishan Kishan, Salil Arora, Heinrich Klaasen
BATSMAN: Travis Head, Smaran Ravichandran
ALL-ROUNDERS: Abhishek Sharma, Harshal Patel, Kamindu Mendis, Harsh Dubey, Brydon Carse, Shivang Kumar, Krains Fuletra, Liam Livingstone, Jack Edwards, Nitish Kumar Reddy
BOWLERS: Pat Cummins, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unakat, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Shivam Mavi.
Concluding Remarks
In conclusion, it can be said that the IPL 2026 team squads are more balanced than ever before. Every team now has a mix of destructive batsmen and cunning bowlers. Now, it remains to be seen who will have the last laugh on the field. Take a look at which players fetched the highest prices in this year’s IPL 2026. The whole world is especially looking forward to watching the battle between the Dhoni-Samson duo of CSK and the Kohli-Iyer pair of RCB.
