New Delhi, Nov 15 (NationPress) The Delhi Capitals have announced their retention of a 17-member core while bidding farewell to several prominent players, including Mohit Sharma and Faf du Plessis, as they prepare for the upcoming IPL 2026 auction scheduled for later this year.

After finishing fifth last season and just missing the playoffs, the team has chosen to focus on stability at the top while making significant decisions regarding experience and the overseas player balance.

In addition to Mohit and du Plessis, Delhi has released Sediqullah Atal, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Manvanth Kumar, and Darshan Nalkande. Furthermore, Donovan Ferreira has exited the squad as part of a trade deal with the Rajasthan Royals, bringing Nitish Rana to Delhi.

The Capitals have retained their leadership and key performers, including Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, and Tristan Stubbs. They have also backed young talents such as Abishek Porel, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, and Vipraj Nigam, indicating the franchise's commitment to building a stable, long-term team.

Discussing the retention strategy, franchise chairman and co-owner Kiran Kumar Grandhi mentioned that the team’s narrow miss in IPL 2025 provided clarity on areas needing improvement.

“We had a promising campaign last season. The team demonstrated excellent quality and spirit, even though we narrowly missed the playoffs,” Grandhi stated. “The auction presents us with an opportunity to reinforce the areas where we fell short and create a more balanced squad around the players we have retained.”

Co-owner Parth Jindal echoed these sentiments, highlighting Delhi’s confidence in the retained players. “We are delighted with the players we’ve kept – we witnessed their strong performance together, especially during the first half of last season. Our coaches and scouts have been diligently identifying players who can enhance our core group,” Jindal remarked.

Head coach Hemang Badani emphasized the need for consistency throughout the season and the opportunity to fill critical gaps via the auction. “Last season had its ups and downs. We played some exceptional cricket but fell just short of making the playoffs. We are aware of the areas that require strengthening, and the auction will enable us to make those necessary adjustments around the core we have retained,” Badani stated.

List of retained players by the Delhi Capitals:

Retained: Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, and Nitish Rana.

Released: Mohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Sediqullah Atal, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Manvanth Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, Donovan Ferreira.