3 Players who were lucky to be retained ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Performing in the IPL is not everyone's cup of tea; the spotlight, media scrutiny, paycheck pressure, and much more. Imagine getting ready for your gig in front of sold-out stadiums with a capacity to accommodate crowds in excess of 100,000.

Often, one poor outing can lead to your release, and therefore, players getting retained after an entire underwhelming season is a rarity.

Let's look at three players who were lucky to be retained ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction despite an underwhelming 2025 season:

1. Jamie Overton

A bowling allrounder, endowed with a clean ball-striking ability, Jamie Overton would consider himself lucky to have been retained by Chennai Super Kings. While the 31-year-old Overton only got three games, he went wicketless, leaking runs at an alarming rate of 13.83 per over.

CSK bought Overton for INR 1.50 crore at the previous auction, and the English allrounder would consider himself fortunate to have another chance to prove his worth in the next season.

 2. Masood Shahrukh Khan

Shahrukh Khan is one of the two Indian finishers Gujarat Titans decided to retain ahead of the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi. While he batted at a strike rate of 179, scoring as many runs in 11 innings in the previous season, he couldn't manage to make multiple winning contributions.

Since then, his form has nosedived, and the 30-year-old hasn't even been able to secure his spot in his state squad (Tamil Nadu) across formats.

3. Suyash Sharma

While Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had a season to treasure as they broke their hoodoo, Suyash Sharma's outing wasn't anything to write home about.

In 14 games, the leg-break bowler could only snare eight scalps, averaging 55.25 and at an expensive rate of 8.84. While he may argue that he was bowling at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, a graveyard for bowlers and where the ball flies off the willow, he still should have returned better figures.