RCB IPL 2026 retention list: All retained, released players, updated purse ahead of mini auction

RCB retention, release list for IPL 2026 [Source: @iplt20.com]

The wait is over as all ten IPL sides have released their retention list ahead of the 2026 mini auction, set to take place next month. The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), have also released their retention list as the team aims to win back-to-back IPL championships.

RCB already had a strong core; however, there were a couple of loopholes the team needed to address, as they had released a couple of players before the auction. In this piece, we look into RCB’s released, retained players list and the purse remaining for them before the auction day.

RCB's retained players for IPL 2026

• As expected, RCB’s core has been retained by the franchise, with all the big players , Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, and captain Rajat Patidar, all getting retained. The finishing department has also been kept intact; however, the Red Army has released Liam Livingstone, who had a poor IPL 2025 season.
• The team was well sorted during the mega auction as the franchise have kept all their best players, and need minor tweaks in the auction to go back-to-back in the league.
• For the mini auction, the team would ideally like to get a like-to-like replacement for Livingstone, and a back-up pacer as well.

RCB released players ahead of IPL 2026

• Swastik Chikara
• Mayank Agarwal
• Tim Seifert
• Liam Livingstone
• Manoj Bhandage
• Blessing Muzarabani
• Lungi Ngidi
• Mohit Rathee

RCB's remaining purse and slots for IPL 2026

RCB has two overseas slots left, and 8 in total. They have a budget of 16.4 crores for the mini auction 2026.

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