All the franchises in the IPL have already announced their official retention list on October 1 ahead of the Mega Auction. KKR announced Rinku Singh (Rs 13), 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) as their retentions. However, the surprising thing was that they did not retain their IPL-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer.
KKR CEO Venky Mysore stated that they did want to retain Shreyas Iyer but also talked about the various factors that play behind the scenes in a player’s retention. He stated that the franchise does not enjoy a one-sided right in retaining a player and has to take into account the will of the player.
“The interesting thing about retention is that there are so many aspects to it and forces at play. But what is fundamental to retention is that most people sometimes don’t understand that it’s a matter of mutually agreeing. A franchise does not have exclusive rights. The player also has to consider various factors and agree,” Mysore told Rev Sports in an interview.
Kolkata Knight Riders have retained all six players before the mega-auction
The Kolkata Knight Riders can undoubtedly be said to be the third most successful franchise in the IPL. KKR are currently the defending champions, as their two-time title-winning skipper Gautam Gambhir went on to lead them to their third title as their mentor in 2024.
Shreyas Iyer was seen leading the KKR franchise in the IPL 2024 edition, while he was released ahead of the mega-auction. Their biggest leap in auction retention remains with Rinku Singh, who saw a major jump from INR 55 lakhs to a retained price of INR 13 crores.
Also, alongside the ace Indian batter, the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell have been placed with a huge INR 12 crore each. While Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana remain among the two uncapped players with INR 4 crores each.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have spent a purse of INR 57 crore on retentions while they will now enter the IPL mega-auction with a huge bank of INR 63 crores, while no RTM option remains with them.
