New Delhi: It is rarely seen in the Indian Premier League when a captain has made his team a champion and he is not retained in the next season. However, this has happened in the retention of IPL 2025. Kolkata Knight Riders did not retain Shreyas Iyer, who was the captain last season. KKR’s team became the champion under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer. There were many talks about why Iyer was not retained, but now the CEO of the franchise himself has told the whole thing.
KKR CEO Venky Mysore has told the inside story in an interview about not retaining Shreyas. Venky Mysore said that KKR had offered top retention to Iyer, but sometimes there is a lack of mutual agreement between the team and the players, due to which the strategy does not work out as per the plan.
Venky Mysore told the inside story:
“He was No. 1 on our list (for retention). He’s captain and we have to build everything around the leadership. We picked him for this specific reason in 2022,” said Mysore, speaking to RevSportz.
We hope people won’t say anymore Shreyas Iyer didn’t get the respect he deserves. KKR gave him first retention but he didn’t accept. Hear what Venky Mysore is saying pic.twitter.com/11PW0a0pCY
— KKR Vibe (@KnightsVibe) November 1, 2024
Mysore, however, revealed that the auction retention process is one that requires mutual agreement, and that could not happen with Shreyas Iyer.
“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,” said Mysore.
“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 said.
Mysore stated that although he enjoys a personal rapport with Shreyas, the batter wanted to test his value in the auction, a decision that he was happy to support. He emphasised the importance of players prioritising their commercial value.
“In this case, it so happened that he felt it was best, and we’re always supportive of the players when it comes to going to the auction and testing their value,” Mysore added.
