That is what spin icon Ravichandran Ashwin thinks while offering his opinion on the rumoured trade between MI’s Arjun Tendulkar and Lucknow Super Giants’ Shardul Thakur.

“I don’t see any releases happening from MI. Will they try to secure a replacement for Deepak Chahar, who’s a bit injury-prone? They have secured Shardul Thakur on a trade from LSG,” ex-CSK off-spinner Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Senior pacer Mohammed Shami has not represented India since the ICC Champions Trophy in March, with the team management and selectors overlooking him for the England tour as well as the home Test assignments against West Indies and South Africa as well as the ODI leg of the white-ball tour of Australia.

Shami also had a poor run for SRH in the 18th IPL season earlier this year, collecting just six wickets in nine games at an average of 56.17 and 11.23 respectively – numbers which certainly don’t paint a pretty picture for him. Therefore, his release into the auction pool won’t really be a major surprise.

Will RCB release Liam Livingstone? Will KKR stick with their INR 23.75 crore buy of Venkatesh Iyer? Is Glenn Maxwell heading to the auction again?

Check out the likely list of released players from all10 franchises.

After a long time, RCB will go into the auction without worrying too much as they would not have enough money to spend. Though, one player will still keep the RCB management in two minds: Liam Livingstone. Bought at INR 8.75 crore, Livingstone failed to perform last year while Tim David and Romario Shepherd both created impact in his slot. Will that mean RCB will let go of Livingstone? Seems likely if you ask us.

Some injury replacements like Mayank Agarwal, Blessing Muzarabani could be released.

Big calls. Bigger surprises. 💥

Watch our experts break down all the big retentions and shocking releases by the franchises for TATA IPL 2026! 👀

TATA IPL 2026 Retention Special 👉🏻 SUN, 15th NOV, 5 PM on Star Sports Network & JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/6id0xGCqHM

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) November 12, 2025

CSK had a poor season in IPL 2025 despite building a new squad after the mega auction. They finished last with eight points and just four wins. Which means Chennai can release several players.

We feel these players can be released:

Devon Conway

Rahul Tripathi

Vijay Shankar

Jamie Overton

Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Gurjapneet Singh

Remember, Ravichandran Ashwin has already retired.

A trade allows an IPL team to sell or buy a player outside of the auction. There are two ways an IPL trade is done – either by swapping players between two teams or by buying a player from a team in a cash deal. In an all-cash deal, the team buying the player would pay the same amount as the cricketer’s price from the last auction, but in a swap, the price difference is settled by the two teams involved.

Also, the consent of a player is mandatory to trade or buy a player.