The Delhi Capitals (DC) revealed the full list of retained and released players ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction. Although they have not released many big names, the franchise has done well to build up a strong purse for IPL 2026, which demonstrates the franchise approach of sustainability and balance as DC looks to potentially rebuild from an ups and downs season last year.

Delhi had some impactful signings in IPL 2025 that contributed to a strong start to the tournament but could not carry that momentum into the second half of the season, where they saw themselves losing over and over again down the stretch and finishing just four points out of playoffs at 5th on the points table, just 1 point behind the Mumbai Indians.

Speculations had been circulating that the franchise might move on from KL Rahul, their top performer last season, with reports of a potential trade. But the franchise proved all rumours wrong by retaining him. They also kept their high-value signings like Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, and notably T. Natarajan, who barely featured last season.

Delhi Capitals Retentions, Releases and Squad Update

Delhi Capitals kept a strong core for IPL 2026. They retained players such as Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera. This group contains experienced stars along with some young talents who can grow further.

The biggest change came when DC released both their openers, Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk. Their release added a huge amount of money to the purse. They also released Mohit Sharma, Sediqullah Atal, Manvanth Kumar and Darshan Nalkande. In the trade window, DC moved out Donovan Ferreira to Rajasthan Royals. With these moves, DC will now look to strengthen their top order and add more depth during the mini-auction.

See Also: Mumbai Indians retained and released players list ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Delhi Capitals (DC) Retained Players 

Delhi Capitals retained Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel as captain, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera for the IPL 2026 season.

Delhi Capitals (DC) Released Players

The players released by Delhi Capitals include Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sediqullah Atal, Manvanth Kumar, Mohit Sharma and Darshan Nalkande.

DC Player Traded Out

Delhi Capitals traded out Donovan Ferreira to Rajasthan Royals.

Updated Delhi Capitals Squad 

The updated DC squad now consists of Axar Patel (captain), KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera.