Shreyas Iyer will play no part in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL 2025 campaign. The title-winning captain did not make KKR’s retention list ahead of their IPL 2025 mega auction appearance. Fans were shocked by the decision, but there are some reasons behind the title-winning captain’s impending exit.
Likely Reasons Why KKR Chose to Release Shreyas Iyer
Wages
Rumours trailing the release of retention lists by franchises suggest that KKR were not willing to offer Iyer a huge wage for his services. Some reports claim Iyer aims to “test his value” at auction, signalling his choice to leave KKR could be money-related.
KKR could also seek a cheaper option to Iyer by targeting another local middle-order batsman with similar qualities.
Team buildup
Iyer did some decent work in the batting lineup; however, it didn’t do much to convince some analysts after their title win. Some of these analysts claim Iyer’s contribution to building innings was almost non-existent throughout their title-winning campaign.
Iyer usually appeared for the team during death phases and took some deliveries per innings to settle down. The approach is a slow-scoring format and could limit the potential of hard-hitting batsmen like Rinku Singh or Andre Russell.
KKR CEO Speaks on Not Retaining their Title-Winning Captain
KKR CEO Venky Mysore revealed why the franchise chose not to retain Iyer’s services ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction. Fans were left in disbelief when Iyer was not among players retained by the Kolkata-based franchise. The team’s chief exec has now come out to say Iyer was top on their list for retention, but the skipper has other plans:
“He was No. 1 on our [retention] list. He’s captain and we have to build everything around the leadership. We picked him for this specific reason in 2022,” Mysore said.
The CEO revealed that opting to release Iyer after he led KKR to their third IPL title ever was a mutual decision:
“What is fundamental to a retention is that it’s a matter of mutually agreeing. It’s not a one-sided right that the franchise has, the player has to consider various factors and agree,” the KKR CEO added.
“Somewhere along the line, if that agreement doesn’t happen because of factors like money or someone wants to test their value, then the decision is influenced,” Mysore argued.
Likely Destinations for Iyer After KKR Retention Snub
Iyer is one of few IPL cricketers penned to spark a bidding war when the next mega auction begins. Several franchises looking to bolster their ranks will be out to explore Iyer’s sudden availability ahead of next season.
The most probable destinations for Iyer at IPL 2025 include:
Delhi Capitals
The DC franchise released their captain Rishabh Pant ahead of a highly-anticipated mega auction. DC could have luck on their side with their former player Iyer now available at auction before IPL 2025. Iyer had an unbroken seven-year stint with the capital city franchise before moving to another team in 2020.
DC fans will remember Iyer perform in their first IPL final appearance (2020) with the cricketer calling several shots throughout the campaign. Iyer has over 2,300 runs as a DC player and could seek to increase his tally in another stint at the franchise.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
The Bengaluru-based franchise has chosen to not retain Faf du Plessis as their team captain ahead of next season. RCB retained their all-time skipper with most caps (Virat Kohli) for next season but stopped short of naming him the team captain, for now.
Such a move from RCB’s owners could mean they plan to attract fresh talent to replace the aging Faf du Plessis as their captain next season. However, no official move has been made to secure Iyer’s services from RCB’s end. Events unfolding at the auction will determine if RCB gets the talismanic player or not.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
The Punjab franchise decided to retain only two players (Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh) ahead of the next mega auction. Their decision leaves PBKS with a larger auction purse than any other franchise heading into the event. Preity Zinta (PBKS owner) could seek Iyer’s services to replace the retiring Shikhar Dhawan as team captain.
Having more cash to spend overall could work to the franchise’s advantage as they seek marquee talent to lead next season’s campaign. Iyer may also favour a move to PBKS after the franchise announced his former coach Ricky Ponting as their new boss.
How Many Players Did KKR Release Ahead of IPL 2025 Mega Auction?
KKR decided to let seventeen (17) players go before the next mega auction. See the list of players released by KKR ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction below:
Shreyas Iyer, Allah Ghazanfar, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Chetan Sakariya, Dushmantha Chameera, KS Bharat, Manish Pandey, Mitchell Starc, Nitish Rana, Phil Salt, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sakib Hussain, Sherfane Rutherford, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Venkatesh Iyer.
