The Indian Premier League (IPL) retention deadline is round the corner. With the IPL 2027 mini-auction set for December 16 in Goa, the retention deadline closes a month before the auction – November 15. Before the deadline, all the 10 IPL franchises will have to submit their list of retained and released players before going into the auction.
One of the busiest franchises during this time would be Kolkata Knight Riders (). Besides zeroing on their captain, after Ajinkya Rahane retired, the three-time champions will also have to look at the top of the order, something that bothered last year, especially the form of New Zealand’s hard-hitting batter .
While Allen and Rahane started as KKR’s opening pair, there repeated failures to set the stage forced the think-tank to drop the New Zealander after three games. Instead, KKR used Allen’s fellow countryman Tim Seifert open the innings with Rahane. The ploy failed to as KKR went back to the Allen-Rahane combination which brought stability in the latter half.
In fact, Allen repaid the faith, with 349 runs in 11 matches, which included a 100 not out off 47 balls against Delhi Capitals and 93 not out against Gujarat Titans as his two highlights in the entire season.
Post , Allen played 28 T20 matches (including the three against India in the ongoing T20I series), managing a fifty-plus score in only two occasions. The right-hander also scored two 40-plus scores during this period. soon after the IPL 2026 ended, Allen flew down to the United States to feature in the Major League Cricket (MLC).
Representing San Francisco Unicorns, Allen played 12 games in MLC 2026, scoring just 190 runs at an average of 15.83 and a strike rate of 159.66. His only fifty-plus score came against Seattle Orcas. The Kiwi batter didn’t had a good show either in The Hundred.
Playing for Trent Rockets, Allen played nine matches for 217 runs at an average of 27.12 and a strike rate of 157.24. His best knock came against Manchester Super Giants, scoring a 72 not out. At the inaugural edition of the European T20 Premier League (), Allen got just four games for Glasgow Cosmic, contributing with just 45 runs, with a best of 30.
Certainly, Allen’s batting stats post IPL 2026 don’t speak enough for him as far as KKR’s retention is concerned. There were instances, Allen did give a fiery start to the innings but his failure to convert them into big knocks, speaks heavily against the swashbuckling batter.
The ongoing series against India at home is an example. In the first game in Christchurch, Allen’s 24-ball 45 at a strike rate of more than 180 did catch India off-guard. Had Allen stayed a little bit longer, New Zealand could have crossed the 250-run mark, making it a bit more tougher for India to chase.
He stated on a similar note in the third game as well, racing to a 25-ball 40 at a strike rate of over 160, but couldn’t take it long. With two more games to go and having already lost the series, Allen would be eager to make it big.
Looking at how the T20 games are being played currently, every team wants a fiery start at the top of the order to set a momentum. Allen does exactly that. It’s true that Allen has not been able to convert those starts into big knocks, but it certainly sets a launchpad for the other batters in the line-up to continue in the same momentum.
Another factor that would work in Allen’s favour is the price at which he was bought at the auction last time. had bought Allen at his base price of just ₹2 crore in the IPL 2026 auction. It must be noted that in a mini-auction cycle, all the franchises can retain their players at their existing agreed contract values without mandatory slab-rate inflation hikes.
