Written by: Ankit Yadav
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Ten franchises are already reshaping their squads for IPL 2027, and the mini-auction is still months away. Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants have already pulled off a straight swap involving Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav, and several more moves are being discussed behind closed doors right now.

If you’re trying to keep track of who’s staying, who’s going, and who could end up back in the auction pool, here’s where things stand.

IPL 2027 Trade Window: Deals Done and Rumours in the Air

The pre-auction trade window gives franchises a head start before the auction table opens. Hardik Pandya’s move from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians a few years ago is still the benchmark for how big these trades can get.

So far, one major trade has been signed off by the IPL governing council.

PlayerFromToFeePurse impact
Rishabh PantLucknow Super GiantsDelhi CapitalsINR 15 croreDC loses about INR 1.25 crore
Kuldeep YadavDelhi CapitalsLucknow Super GiantsINR 13.50 croreLSG gains about INR 13.75 crore

Rumoured Trades Doing the Rounds

Hardik Pandya IPL Trade
Source: Mint

None of these are confirmed, but they’re generating plenty of noise:

  • Hardik Pandya to KKR or RR: Both Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals have reportedly made contact with Mumbai Indians about the all-rounder. CSK are also said to be circling with a swap that would send Shivam Dube and Ayush Mhatre to MI. Mumbai have denied every rumour so far.
  • RR offering Yashasvi Jaiswal for Pandya: One version of the story has Rajasthan Royals willing to part with Jaiswal to get their hands on Pandya.
  • Sam Curran and Romario Shepherd swap: Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals are said to be weighing a trade involving these two all-rounders.
  • KKR eyeing Suryakumar Yadav: Kolkata are reportedly interested in SKY as a future leadership option.
  • Urmil Patel to Gujarat: Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans are discussing a move for the young wicketkeeper batter, with Washington Sundar or Sai Kishore possibly heading to Chennai in return.
  • Nehal Wadhera and Gurnoor Brar swap: Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings are reportedly discussing sending Wadhera to Gujarat and Brar the other way.

None of these have been finalised, so treat them as talking points rather than done deals for now.

When is the IPL 2027 Mini Auction

IPL 2027 Mini Auction
Source: The Sporting News

The BCCI hasn’t confirmed exact dates yet, but based on past cycles, here’s the expected timeline:

  • Trade window open: late June to early July 2026
  • Trade window closes: second week of December 2026
  • Mini auction: third week of December 2026
  • Post auction trade window: opens right after, runs into early 2027
  • IPL 2027 season starts: late March 2027

The 2026 auction was held in Abu Dhabi, and a similar venue is expected again, though this isn’t confirmed. Squad size is capped at 25 players per team, so the number of open slots depends on how many players each side releases.

IPL 2027 Auction Players List: Team by Team Retentions and Releases

IPL 2027 Auction Players List
Source: IPL

None of this is an official retention list. These are informed picks based on current squads, form and trade rumours.

With several marquee names like Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Rohit Sharma facing uncertain futures at their current franchises after underwhelming IPL 2026 campaigns, the released players pool heading into the mini auction could be one of the most stacked in recent years. The complete IPL auction 2027 player list will feature base prices, overseas registrations, and category breakdowns once the BCCI finalises the shortlist from player registrations ahead of the December deadline. With the salary cap rising to ₹157 crore for the 2027 cycle, franchises will have more room to bid aggressively on high-profile targets who re-enter the auction pool.

Here’s the updated squad-by-squad section with full player lists, ready to drop into the article:

Chennai Super Kings

CSK slipped to eighth in 2026, and reports suggest a squad overhaul is coming before the auction. Dhoni and Gaikwad remain the anchors of the group, while a few high-priced picks from the last auction look shaky heading into December.

Retained players (likely): Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube, Noor Ahmad, Sanju Samson (trade) 

Players that might be released: Kartik Sharma, Urvil Patel (rumoured trade to Gujarat) 

Remaining players: Dewald Brevis, Akash Madhwal, Anshul Kamboj, Dian Forrester, Macneil Noronha, Kuldip Yadav, Mukesh Choudhary, Spencer Johnson, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Rahul Chahar, Matt Henry, Zak Foulkes

Delhi Capitals

Delhi already made their big move by bringing Pant home in a trade with Lucknow. That leaves them needing to replace Kuldeep Yadav’s overs, and their middle order looks like the next area they will look to strengthen at the auction.

Retained players (likely): Rishabh Pant (trade in from LSG), KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Mitchell Starc 

Players that might be released: David Miller, Prithvi Shaw 

Remaining players: Karun Nair, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Nitish Rana, Auqib Dar, Rehan Ahmed, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Parakh, Kyle Jamieson

Gujarat Titans

Gujarat kept their core intact through 2026 and look set to run it back again. The only real uncertainty comes from two separate trade rumours, one involving Urvil Patel and another involving Nehal Wadhera, that could shuffle their bowling and batting depth.

Retained players (likely): Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj 

Players that might be released: Jason Holder 

Remaining players: Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Nishant Sindhu, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Connor Esterhuizen, Luke Wood, Kulwant Khejroliya

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR spent heavily at the last auction on Cameron Green, and they are reportedly not done chasing big names. They are linked to both Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, either of which would mark a serious statement of intent.

Retained players (likely): Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green 

Players that might be released: Rahul Tripathi, Kartik Tyagi 

Remaining players: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Luvnith Sisodia, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Singh, Prashant Solanki, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Saurabh Dubey, Rachin Ravindra, Blessing Muzarabani

Lucknow Super Giants

Lucknow gave up their long time captain in the Pant trade but gained a genuine strike bowler in Kuldeep Yadav. Aiden Markram has already spoken about stepping into the leadership role, which lines up neatly with Pant’s exit.

Retained players (likely): Kuldeep Yadav (trade in from DC), Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram, Mayank Yadav, Mohammed Shami 

Players that might be released: Josh Inglis 

Remaining players: Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahamad, Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, M. Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, George Linde, Mukul Choudhary, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuwanshi

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai sit at the centre of the biggest ongoing trade saga in the league. KKR, RR and CSK have all reportedly circled Hardik Pandya, though Mumbai have denied every version of the rumour so far. This is the situation worth watching closest.

Retained players (likely): Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Varma 

Players that might be released: Hardik Pandya (rumoured trade to KKR, RR or CSK) 

Remaining players: Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Naman Dhir, Keshav Maharaj, Will Jacks, Corbin Bosch, Ruchit Ahir, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Raghu Sharma, Allah Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande, Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford, Mahipal Lomror, Krish Bhagat, Mohammad Izhar, Danish Malewar, Mayank Rawat

Punjab Kings

Punjab’s squad looks fairly settled compared to most of the league, aside from one live rumour. Losing Nehal Wadhera to Gujarat would leave a gap in their middle order that they would almost certainly try to fill straight back at the auction.

Retained players (likely): Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, Arshdeep Singh 

Players that might be released: Nehal Wadhera (rumoured trade to Gujarat) 

Remaining players: Vishnu Vinod, Harnoor Pannu, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Priyansh Arya, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Mitch Owen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Vishal Nishad, Pravin Dubey

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan show up in three separate trade rumours, more than any other franchise. Between the Pandya chatter, the Curran-Shepherd swap talk, and question marks over Jadeja and Hetmyer, this is one of the busiest squads to track before December.

Retained players (likely): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 

Players that might be released: Shimron Hetmyer 

Remaining players: Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Dasun Shanaka, Donovan Ferreira, Sushant Mishra, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Raj Punja, Emanjot Chahal, Brijesh Sharma, Aman Rao, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

RCB are reportedly ready to make changes after a mixed 2026 campaign. Swapnil Singh has been floated as a release candidate with a younger spinner in mind, while Romario Shepherd is tied up in trade talk with Rajasthan over Sam Curran.

Retained players (likely): Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, Josh Hazlewood 

Players that might be released: Swapnil Singh, Romario Shepherd (rumoured trade to RR) 

Remaining players: Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Jacob Bethell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma, Richard Gleeson, Abhinandan Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal, Jordan Cox, Kanishk Chouhan, Vihaan Malhotra, Vicky Ostwal

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers are one of the quieter franchises this window, with no confirmed or rumoured trade currently linking them to any other side. Their core group from 2026 looks likely to carry over largely unchanged into the new season.

Retained players (likely): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen , Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy

Players that might be released: Liam Livingstone 

Remaining players: Aniket Verma, R Smaran, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Dilshan Madushanka, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari, Shivang Kumar, Salil Arora, Krains Fuletra, Praful Hinge, Amit Kumar, Onkar Tarmale, Sakib Hussain, RS Ambrish, Gerald Coetzee

What Happens Next Before IPL 2027

The pre-auction trade window is expected to stay open into December, so more deals like the Pant and Kuldeep swap are likely before the mini-auction itself. Franchises still have to submit their formal retention lists, and that’s when the real picture of who’s available at the table will finally come into focus.

Once the auction wraps up, a second post-auction trade window reopens, giving teams one more chance to fine tune their squads before IPL 2027 gets underway in late March. For now, Hardik Pandya’s situation is the one storyline worth checking on daily, since it involves three different franchises and could reshape more than one squad at once.

About the Author

Meet Ankit Yadav, a dedicated cricket analyst at The Cricket Panda. Growing up playing street leagues and college tournaments, Ankit's love for cricket has been a lifelong journey. With a knack for numbers and a talent for data analysis, he brings a unique perspective to cricket reporting. At The Cricket Panda, Ankit combines his passion for cricket with his expertise in data analysis to provide fans with in-depth insights and comprehensive coverage of the sport.

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