India, Nov. 25 -- Kolkata Knight Riders haven't tip-toed into the IPL 2026 cycle - they have detonated the old template and walked away with the biggest war chest in the room. Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer are gone, all three frontline wicketkeepers are gone, while they try to maintain continuity with a smaller core.

It leaves KKR in a strange but intriguing place. The question, however, is how much of their best XI is already in place, and how much still needs to be built during the upcoming mini-auction.

KKR go into the December 16 mini-auction with 12 retained players, 13 slots to fill, and a hefty purse of INR 64.30 cr - the largest in the league.

Batters: Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey

All-rou...