New Delhi: The Kolkata Knight Riders have announced their retentions for the IPL 2025. The franchise have decided to retain Rinku Singh (Rs 13 crore), Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore) and Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 crore).
KKR have released their title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer ahead of the mega auction. Iyer joined KKR in 2022 for INR 12.25 crore as captain, replacing Eoin Morgan. Iyer scored 752 runs at an average of 34.18 and a strike rate of 140.03. Under his leadership, KKR finished in first position in the IPL 2024 standings and also defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final to win their third trophy.
‘Wanted Shreyas Iyer as team’s 1st retention’: KKR CEO Venky Mysore
In an interview with Revsportz, KKR CEO Venky Mysore revealed that the franchise wanted him to be the first retention but it’s a matter of mutually agreeing. He further added that it’s not a one-sided right that KKR has.
“The interesting thing about retention is that there are so many aspects to it and forces as play. But what is fundamental to a retention that most people sometimes don’t understand that it’s a matter of mutually agreeing. It’s not a one-sided right that a franchise has. The player also has to consider various factors and agree” Mysore told Revsportz in an interview.
He also said that the agreement didn’t happen due to the various factors and that also influenced the decision eventually but Iyer was the captain and the franchise wanted to build a team around him.
“Sometimes along the line, that agreement doesn’t happen because of various factors; money or somebody wants to test their value or whatever it is. That influences a decision as well, eventually, but he was No.1 on our list. He’s captain and we have to build around that leadership and we picked him in 2022 specifically for that. Unfortunately, he was injured in 2023. The moment he came back, he got his captaincy back” he added.
