KKR IPL 2023 retention: Kolkata Knight Riders full list of retained players, released players, purse remaining for auction

Here is the full Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL 2023 squad after the retentions and ahead of the auctions.

KKR players Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh during IPL 2022. | Photo Credit: Sportzpics

The Kolkata Knight Riders has released 16 players ahead of the IPL 2023 auction.

The Shreyas Iyer-led team has been the most active side during the trade window, having roped in Shardul Thakur (from Delhi Capitals), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (from Gujarat Titans) and Lockie Ferguson (from Gujarat Titans). It has also traded Aman Khan to DC.

In addition to the purse remaining from the previous auction and the value of the players each side has released, the teams have an additional Rs 5 crore to spend in the upcoming auction — to be held in Kochi on December 23 — taking the overall purse tally to Rs 95 crore.

KKR has Rs 7.05 crore to spend and three overseas slots to fill. Come the auction, KKR will have to lend some thought to the top-order with Aaron Finch, Alex Hales and Ajinkya Rahane missing. The middle-order, however, looks well set.

Kolkata Knight Riders retained squad

Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh

Released Players: Pat Cummins, Sam Billings, Aman Khan (traded), Shivam Mavi, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Aaron Finch, Alex Hales, Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Sharma, Baba Indrajith, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Sheldon Jackson

Trade ins: Shardul Thakur (from DC), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (from GT), Lockie Ferguson (from GT)

Remaining Purse: INR 7.05 crore

Overseas Slots: 3