The ongoing IPL 2026 season has only a few matches left before its conclusion. Out of 10 teams, 6 teams are already out of the title race. This season has been hot and cold for many star players. Stars like Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and many others did not find their rhythm on most of the occasions.
In the lead-up to the 2027 season, there will be multiple shuffles, retains, and releases across the teams. Which players will be released, and who will be retained, are yet to be determined. On the basis of the performance and the price tags, Ambati Rayudu has predicted some of the players' futures ahead of a fresh season.
Ambati Rayudu predicted a bunch of IPL stars' future
Ahead of Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026, ESPNCricinfo has shared a video on their social media platforms with the former Team India batter, Ambati Rayudu, at the center of the video. Rayudu faced a set of players' names, and he had to say either release or retained, predicting a possible future for the players.
Rayudu suggested LSG to release Rishabh Pant
The set of players mostly contains the international star players. There are a total of 27 names in the video. Rayudu mostly prefers to say ‘retains’. Though there are some rare names, like the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper Rishabh Pant, who is carrying a price tag of INR 27 crore, but failed to produce any significant result in back-to-back seasons, deserves to be released ahead of the IPL 2027 players’ auction, according to Ambati Rayudu.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper, who also struggled in two consecutive seasons, receives a ‘retain’ verdict by the former cricketer. On the other notable names, Suryakumar Yadav, Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Matheesha Pathirana's names are also in the video.
A few 'release and buy back' suggestions by Ambati Rayudu 👀 pic.twitter.com/v9vUAeveQ6
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 26, 2026
Retain or release verdicts by Ambati Rayudu:
- SuryaKumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore): Retain
- Trent Boult (INR 12.5 crore): Release and buyback
- Rohit Sharma (INR 16.3 crore): Retain
- Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore): Retain
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore): Retain
- Shivam Dubey (INR 12 crore): Retain
- Prashanth Veer (INR 14 crore): Release and buyback
- MS Dhoni (INR 4 crore): Retain
- Aiden Markram (INR 2 crore): Retain
- Nicholas Puran (INR 21 crore): Release and buyback
- Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore): Release and buyback
- Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore): Retain (0:57)
- Marco Jansen (INR 7 crore): Retain
- Yuzvendra Chahal (INR 18 crore): Retain
- Tristan Stubbs (INR 10 crore): Retain
- Kuldeep Yadav (INR 13.26 crore): Retain
- Ajinkya Rahane (INR 1.5 crore): Retain
- Cameron Green (INR 25.2 crore): Retain
- Matheesha Pathirana (INR 18 crore): Release and buyback
- Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crore): Retain
- Glenn Phillips (INR 2 crore): Retain
- Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore): Retain
- Ravindra Jadeja (INR 14 crore): Retain
- Romario Shepherd (INR 1.5 crore): Retain
- Jitesh Sharma (INR 11 crore): Retain
- Liam Livingston (INR 13 crore): Release and buyback
- Harshal Patel (8 crore): Retain
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