Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to end Andre Russell’s association with the franchise after 12 years.
The West Indies all-rounder has been with the franchise since IPL 2014 and was among the five players retained by them ahead of the 2025 mega auction for ₹12 crore.
KKR have also decided to release Venkatesh Iyer, their most expensive buy at the mega auction for ₹23.75 crore.
They also parted ways with Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali and Spencer Johnson. With Mayank Markande traded to Mumbai Indians and Chetan Sakariya and Luvnith Sisodia also released, the three-time champions now enter the auction with a commanding purse of ₹64.3 crore and 13 slots (including six overseas) to fill.
KKR had almost decided not to retain Russell last year, but was included at the last minute following a request from an influential stakeholder. However, a mediocre
IPL 2025 has contributed to his release now.
Russell, 37, retired from international cricket in July, having only played the T20 format after the 2019 World Cup. The Player of the Tournament in IPL 2019, Russell was part of KKR’s title-winning teams in 2014 and 2024.
The franchise, however, retained Ajinkya Rahane, in an indication that he could continue as captain.
There is talk that KKR may buy back Venkatesh at the auction, to be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16.
He had a quiet IPL 2022, but starred the following year when he scored 404 runs, including a century, to average 28.86 at a strike rate of 145.85 for the season. But his failure in IPL 2025 — 142 runs in 11 games at a strike-rate of 139.22 — largely contributed to their debacle.
Among the other teams, Chennai Super Kings released quite a few players to be left with the second biggest purse (₹43.4 crore). They followed up the high-profile Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran trade by releasing Matheesha Pathirana and the New Zealand pair of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, as well as Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi
and Vijay Shankar.
They can now fill up to nine slots, including four overseas.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have the third largest purse (₹25.5 crore) having released eight players, including Mohammed Shami, traded to Lucknow Super Giants.
LSG and Delhi Capitals ended up with purses of ₹22.9 crore and ₹21.8 crore, respectively.
