A few established stars could be released before IPL 2026 auction.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be looking to do some serious business in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction after having endured a forgettable IPL 2025 campaign. The five-time champions finished with a wooden spoon in the IPL 2025 standings with just four wins (eight points) in 14 matches. An injury to their regular skipper, Ruturaj Gaikwad, did not help CSK much, even after his replacement, Ayush Mhatre, made quite an impression.
The Yellow Brigade will have their task cut out in the auction. There are a few notable players, including New Zealand’s Devon Conway, who could be released ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
Let’s take a look at the players who could replace four such players, including Conway himself, in the IPL 2026 auction.
Devon Conway had a far from satisfactory IPL 2025 campaign with CSK, the franchise he has represented since 2022. In the latest season, Conway got to play just six matches, aggregating 156 runs at a strike rate of 131.09. His lack of aggressive batting display in IPL 2025 could persuade the Super Kings to look elsewhere. And England’s Ben Duckett could be the answer for that.
Duckett is an aggressive batter who has established himself as a crucial part of Bazball in Tests. That was evident after he scored a 121-ball century in the first Test against India at Headingley. As far as his recent limited-overs exploits are concerned, the opener slammed 84 runs from 46 deliveries in a T20I against West Indies, and was the third-highest run-getter in that series with 115 runs. Should Chennai Super Kings acquire Duckett at the auction, he can be a reliable opening partner for Rachin Ravindra.
Like Conway, England’s Sam Curran had limited opportunities in the CSK camp. The all-rounder played just five matches last season. Barring a knock of 88 against the Punjab Kings, there is hardly any positive takeaway for him. The Super Kings could consider Australia’s Cameron Green as a replacement for Curran.
While Green is technically a batting all-rounder, he can be effective thanks to his pace and bounce. During IPL 2024 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he collected 10 wickets from 13 matches. Green was ruled out of IPL 2025 because of an injury, but his recent signs are promising. He scored an unbeaten 55 during a T20I against West Indies, which should put him in good standing going forward.
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It won’t be a bad idea for Shardul Thakur to replace Deepak Hooda in CSK. Hooda played just seven games in IPL 2025 and scored 31 runs, which means that there is hardly any chance for retention.
Thakur, on the other hand, was named as an injury replacement at Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2025. He replaced Mohsin Khan and made an instant impression, taking 13 wickets from 10 matches. Thakur has donned the yellow jersey previously, in 2024, taking five wickets from nine matches.
Like Shardul, Tushar Deshpande has played for CSK previously. This was between 2022 and 2024, when he took 48 wickets from 41 matches. In IPL 2025, Tushar played for the Rajasthan Royals, but managed to take just nine wickets from 10 matches.
With a release likely, it should not come as a surprise if CSK once again try to get Tushar at the IPL 2026 auction. Mukesh hardly got any game time with CSK across IPL 2024 and 2025, playing just three matches and taking one wicket.
