Preparations for the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League began on Saturday with all 10 teams announcing their retentions and trades ahead of the player auction.

The biggest move was one that had been expected for some time, and marks the beginning of a new era at one of the most successful franchises in the game.

Rajasthan Royals traded star India wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings in exchange for all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

Samson has represented Rajasthan since his 2013 debut in the competition, apart from the two seasons at Delhi in 2016 and 2017.

The 31-year-old led Rajasthan to the IPL final in 2022 but found himself sidelined at Royals as the franchise veered towards Riyan Parag.

Samson made it clear he had no intention to play for Rajasthan and Chennai swooped in, who have been struggling for leadership and tactics with the enigmatic MS Dhoni slowly fading away and the next crop of players falling woefully short.

That meant a veteran of Chennai - Jadeja - was let go by the franchise. The India all-rounder returned to Rajasthan - the team where they won the inaugural season of the league.

Another intriguing trade happened between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants. Arjun Tendulkar, who had played at Mumbai all his career owing to the patronage of his father and India legend Sachin, moved to Lucknow.

The left-arm pacer can now look forward to getting proper game time, having been reduced to the bench previously.

The focus will now move to the player auction which will take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on December 16.

IPL auctions have now shifted to the Middle East, with previous two events held in Jeddah and Dubai.

Chennai Super Kings

Amount spent: 816m rupees; Remaining purse: 434m rupees

MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson (Trade), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Mukesh Choudhary, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Gurjapneet Singh

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Amount spent: 1.08b rupees; Remaining purse: 164m rupees

Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma, Rajat Patidar, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Yash Dayal, Abhinandan Singh

Punjab Kings

Amount spent: 1.13b rupees; Remaining purse: 115m rupees

Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Shashank Singh, Mitch Owen, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Pyla Avinash, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thaku