As expected, Mumbai Indians had an uneventful day at the office. The team decided to retain their core from last season despite not making the playoffs. The reports around Keiron Pollard’s future came true as the Mumbai-based franchise decided to cut ties with their famous West Indian as a player, releasing him after 13 years with the franchise. Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, and Jaydev Unadkat were the other major names among 13 players who had to part ways with the five-time winners ahead of the auction as the team decided to build a new core around the likes of Tilak Verma and Dewald Brevis. 

Mumbai Indians' full list of retained/released players

Similar to MI, Chennai Super Kings did not go for releasing too many players despite finishing the second-last position last year. The Yellow Army, led by MS Dhoni, kept faith in youngsters such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Mukesh Choudhary and have released veterans like Dwayne Bravo and Robin Uthappa. In all, they have terminated the contracts of eight players from their last year’s 25-member squad and will have INR 20.45 crores available ahead of the mini-auction.

By bringing in Lockie Ferguson, Shardul Thakur, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz via trades, Kolkata Knight Riders have already started to cover their bases after a poor IPL 2022 under Shreyas Iyer. Simultaneously, to add balance, they have released the duo of Pat Cummins and Sam Billings, who decided to skip IPL 2023 to manage their workloads. Shivam Mavi, who bagged a lucrative INR 7.25 contract last year, is no longer in their squad, as well as overseas all-rounders Mohammad Nabi and Chamika Karunaratne.

Last season’s runner-ups were arguably the strongest side on paper, and quite expectedly, they did not need to change much. While there were multiple reports about Devdutt Padikkal’s future at the franchise, it all has been removed after their decision to retain him. Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler will continue to lead their batting unit, while Yuzvendra Chahal, IPL 2022’s Purple Cap winner, will remain their primary weapon among bowlers. Yet, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Rassie van der Dusse were the only well-known names who had to part ways. As a result, they will have the least purse at the upcoming mini-auction on December 23.

The IPL 2022 champions, led by Hardik Pandya, traded Ferguson and Gurbaz to KKR, and for this reason, their purse will additionally have INR 10.5 crores (10 crores for Ferguson, 50 lakh for Gurbaz). As expected, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Shami among many others will continue to don their jersey when they walk into the field in the next season. On the other hand, Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh, Jason Roy, and Varun Aaron were the players who had to cut ties.

Lucknow Super Giants had zero money in their kitty when they left the mega auction earlier this year, and ahead of the mega auction, they decided to part ways with Jason Holder, their 8.75 crore-priced all-rounder to increase it to some margin. Manish Pandey, Dushmantha Chameera, and Evin Lewis were the other popular names among the XX players whose contracts have been terminated due to different reasons. Thus, the franchise will be looking to add members to strengthen their middle order.

Despite Glenn Maxwell’s freak long-term injury just ahead of the retention list’s deadline day, Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to keep the Aussie all-rounder for the upcoming season. As usual, the franchise will form their batting unit around Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis for IPL 2023 while there is not much change in their primary bowling attack either, which means they will only have INR 8.75 crores in their kitty for the mini-auction. However, Aneeshwar Gautam, Chama Milind, Luvnith Sisodia, and Sherfane Rutherford did not find a place for IPL 2023. 

By releasing their former skipper Mayank Agarwal, Punjab Kings made a bold move ahead of the mini-auction. Odean Smith, whom they acquired at significant value, has been released while Shah Rukh Khan has been retained despite a lot of speculation surrounding his future at the franchise. With plenty of regulars parting ways, it will be interesting to see how the Punjab-based franchise are going to make moves during the bidding wars in Kochi as they have a lot of work to do to build a core around Shikhar Dhawan.

Similar to PBKS, Sunrisers Hyderabad too released their former skipper Kane Williamson and will be keen to form a newly-looked core around their next leader. West Indies’ duo Nicholas Pooran and Romario Shepherd, who took INR 18.50 crores combined last time, have parted ways as well. Thus, SRH will have INR 42.25 crores available before starting bidding in the mini-auction.

Rishabh Pant and Co. made a smart business by trading Shardul Thakur to KKR and bringing in Aman Khan. The move helped them to increase their purse to INR 10.55 crore, which will be key for them in the coming mini-auction. However, Tim Seifert, Ashwin Hebbar, KS Bharat, and Mandeep Singh failed to remain in the squad as well after making little impact last season. Hence, DC will start the mini-auction with INR 19.45 crores in their bag and will be looking to acquire a significant buy.