KKR's Venkatesh Iyer, Chandrakant Pandit likely to be released as IPL teams get ready for big decisions

The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League is in its final stretch with just a handful of matches left in the league phase and the playoffs set to get underway less than a week from now. And with the race to the playoffs having come to an end following Mumbai Indians’ victory over Delhi Capitals on Wednesday, there isn’t much context in the remaining league matches other than which teams will finish among the top two and which one will end at the bottom of the barrel.

While MI, Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings will be busy preparing for the business end of the 18th IPL season, with two of them hoping to end a 17-year wait for a maiden title, the ones that have already bowed out of the playoffs race will have already started planning for the next season.

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And part of those preparations would involve deciding which players to release from the squad ahead of the retention deadline for the next mini auction.

KKR’s Venkatesh Iyer among players likely to be released ahead of IPL 2026

And the first player that comes to mind when it comes to under-performers in the ongoing IPL season is Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant, who not only failed to take his team into the playoffs but endured his worst IPL season ever by scoring just 135 runs at an average and strike rate of 12.27 and 100 respectively.

Despite grossly under-performing as captain as well as as a batter, LSG might think twice before release a big name such as Pant – who is in the race for succeeding Rohit Sharma as India Test captain. And with the Rs 27 crore that LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka shelled out to secure Pant’s services in the mega auction in November, which made the 27-year-old the most expensive player in IPL history, he is likely to give the wicketkeeper-batter at least another season before parting ways with him.

The same, however, cannot be said of seam-bowling all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, who had been one of the key contributors in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning campaign last year and had been bought back for Rs 23.75 crore ahead of captain Shreyas Iyer, who was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 crore in the auction and named their captain.

According to Revsportz, Iyer is among the top names likely to be traded or released after the current IPL season. Iyer has scored just 142 runs this season at an average of 20.29 and a strike rate of 139.22, crossing the fifty mark just once. His bowling skills, additionally, were not utilised at all with the seamer not bowling a single delivery this season.

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A report on the website adds that KKR could also part ways with head coach Chandrakant Pandit, whose style of coaching hasn’t exactly made him popular among the players with the 63-year-old having reportedly pulled up a foreign player for having dinner with a compatriot from another franchise.

Their shortcomings might have been overlooked had the Knight Riders reached the playoffs at the very least after entering the season as defending champions. However, under Ajinkya Rahane’s leadership, KKR were hardly able to build and sustain a momentum this year the way they did with Shreyas in charge and with Gautam Gambhir as mentor .

Shami, Livingstone among other players likely to be released

There are several other players from other franchises who aren’t likely to be retained after a poor run in IPL 2025; senior Indian pacer Mohammed Shami was bought for Rs 10 crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the mega auction, but collected just six wickets in nine appearances this season at an average and economy of 56.17 and 11.23 respectively, ultimately getting benched by the SRH management.

RCB’s Liam Livingstone, similarly, has scored just 87 runs in seven outings this season at a strike rate of 128 and has collected just two wickets with his handy spin, and hasn’t given his franchise a strong reason to retain him after buying him for Rs 8.75 crore in the mega auction.

The eyes of the cricket world will also be fixed on MS Dhoni and whether he makes himself available for the Chennai Super Kings next year after a forgettable season as captain as well as a batter – with celebrated finisher finding himself unable to bat beyond the last three-four overs of the innings and batting as low as No 9.

Knowing Dhoni’s ways, that announcement isn’t likely to come until the retention deadline, which should be sometime in the months of October and November.