Rajasthan Royals (RR) Released and Retained Players List 2026

The Rajasthan Royals had a difficult IPL 2025 campaign. Despite reaching the playoffs last year, they finished in 9th position in the points table this year. There are some big rumours going on in the market, so it will be exciting to see how the Rajasthan Royals (RR) Released and Retained Players List 2026 look like.

Rajasthan Royals finished only ahead of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2025 points table with just 4 wins in the tournament this year. The team lost several matches from once winning position.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) Released and Retained Players List 2026

The Royals could make some key changes ahead of next season. So let’s have a look at the likely Rajasthan Royals (RR) Released and Retained Players List 2026.

RR Released Players List 2026

Tushar Deshpande

Rajasthan Royals signed former CSK pace bowler Tushar Deshpande for INR 6.5 Crore in the mega auction. However, the pacer failed to live-up to the hype as Deshpande bagged only 9 wickets in 10 matches. He was mostly inconsistent this season, conceding runs with close to 11 economy rate.

Wanindu Hasaranga

Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga couldn’t leave a lasting impact for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025 season. After bought for INR 5.25 Crore, Hasaranga picked 11 wickets in 11 matches and was poor with the bat. The Royals is likely to include Hasaranga in the RR released players list 2026.

Nitish Rana

Rajasthan Royals signed former KKR middle-order batter Nitish Rana to bolster their middle-order. However, except for his scintillating inning vs CSK, he didn’t have a great season all-together. And it is expected that Nitish Rana will be in RR released players list 2026 as the Royals would look to invest in a young profile.

Sanju Samson or Yashasvi Jaiswal

Now the biggest new surrounding the Rajasthan Royals is that among two star batters Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal, there is likelihood of one player likely to leave the franchise. While reports suggests that Samson’s relationship has deteriorated with management, it is also believed that Jaiswal is not happy to be not in captaincy race. However, it is mostly a rumour. There are also chances that both players stay.

ALSO READ: SRH Retained and Released Players List for IPL 2026

RR Retained Players List 2026

There is lot of discussion about Shimron Hetmyer‘s probability of leaving the franchise after his not so great performance. However, Hetmyer was retained by the franchise and is a game-changer. So there is chances that Shimron keeps his place in the squad.

There is similar situation with Jofra Archer. The English pacer didn’t have a great campaign and fans believe that he might be released. But given the lack of pace bowling options available in the auction, the Royals is very much likely to keep the English pacer for INR 12.5 Crore.

14-year-old Youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi impressed everyone with his batting in his debut campaign, becoming the youngest batter to score a century in IPL history. He will also be part of the franchise for INR 1.1 Crore as part of RR retained players list 2026.

Wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel faced criticism for not able to finish the matches for the Royals. Yet, Jurel is a talented wicket-keeper batter who is in the scheme of things for team India. The Royals will definitely include Jurel in RR retained players list 2026.

Rajasthan Royals brought in Lhuan-dre-Pretorius and Nandre Burger as injury replacement. Both the South African players are rated highly and will significantly improve the team next season. Expect both players to feature for the Royals in the IPL 2026.

Other Released Players: Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ashok Sharma.

RR Full Retained Players List for IPL 2026