NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings are expected to trigger intense bidding wars at next month’s mini IPL auction in Abu Dhabi on December 16, with both franchises holding the largest purses among the 10 teams.

KKR enter the auction with a purse of Rs 64.30 crore after releasing non-performing assets Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 crore) and Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore). CSK, despite trading Sanju Samson, have freed up Rs 40 crore by letting go of a host of players.

Also READ: Full list of players retained and released by all teams - how the squads stack up ahead of the auction

The Knight Riders are looking to rebuild their squad from scratch, while CSK are likely to revamp their bowling attack. They may attempt to buy back Matheesha Pathirana or target Ben Stokes to restore balance, provided he is available after the Ashes.

KKR have released Quinton de Kock, Moeen Ali, and Anrich Nortje, while retaining a core group including Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi. KKR have 13 slots available, including six overseas spots.

Big Trades Shake Up Franchises

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and keeper-batter Sanju Samson have been traded to Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, respectively. With the player retention deadline ending on Sunday, Jadeja has switched base to Royals at a reduced fee, while Samson, who led RR for four seasons, will don the yellow CSK jersey in IPL 2026.

An IPL media advisory stated that Jadeja's fee has been revised from Rs 18 crore to Rs 14 crore, while Samson will continue at his existing Rs 18 crore.

One of the most experienced IPL players, Samson has played 177 matches, with CSK being only his third franchise. He represented RR in all but two seasons — 2016 and 2017 — since making his IPL debut in 2013.

England all-rounder Sam Curran will move from CSK to RR at his existing league fee of Rs 2.4 crore following a successful trade.

CSK Managing Director Kasi Viswanathan explained the rationale behind trading Jadeja:

"Chennai Super Kings have traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran for Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals. The team management felt the need of a top order Indian batsman."

He added, 'and, this decision has been taken by the team management and, it is a very tough decision leaving out Jadeja, who has been responsible for the success of CSK over the years. It was probably one of the toughest decisions that CSK had to take.

"And it was after mutual agreement that we undertook this. When I spoke to Jadeja, he was also very clear, he also felt that he is at the fag end of his career in white ball. So, he also felt that he can have a break."

Pace-bowling stalwart Mohammed Shami will don the Lucknow Super Giants jersey after a trade from Sunrisers Hyderabad, moving at his existing fee of Rs 10 crore.

Arjun Tendulkar, son of Sachin Tendulkar, will also join LSG from Mumbai Indians at Rs 30 lakh, while all-rounder Nitish Rana will represent Delhi Capitals following a trade from Rajasthan Royals at Rs 4.2 crore.

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru released six players, including Liam Livingstone and Lungi Ngidi, but surprisingly retained pacer Yash Dayal, who is facing sexual abuse allegations.

RCB head coach Andy Flower said:

“We have been able to retain a really strong squad with, obviously, a great recent history of playing winning cricket. I feel for the players that we are releasing, because I am pretty sure they loved the experience as much as I did.”

RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobat added:

"Having had such a good season, we are trying to find the balance between continuity and stability but also striving for improvement."

(With PTI Inputs)