KKR wanted Shreyas Iyer as team's 1st retention: CEO Venky Mysore

Venky Mysore, the KKR CEO, opened up on why Shreyas Iyer wasn't retained in the IPL 2025 Retentions. Last season, the Knight Riders won the title after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.

In Short

• KKR retained six players in IPL 2025 Retentions
• Shreyas Iyer led KKR to glory in IPL 2024 earlier this year
• Shreyas Iyer had joined KKR back in 2022

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore said that the team had Shreyas Iyer as one of their top retentions for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. On Thursday, the Knight Riders named 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 for the upcoming edition of the tournament.

But Shreyas’ name did not feature in the list despite the Knight Riders winning the title last year. Under his leadership, the Knights ended their 10-year-long wait to get their hands on the trophy. Mysore talked about the factors that need to fall in place for a team and player to agree on captaincy duties.

“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 Rev Sports in an interview.

“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,” Mysore said.

‘Enjoyed a personal rapport with him’

Back in 2022, the Knights signed Shreyas for INR 12.25 crore and made him the skipper, replacing Eoin Morgan, who helped them finish as the runners-up in 2021. In 29 matches for KKR, Shreyas scored 752 runs at an average of 34.18 and a strike-rate of 140.03 with five fifties to his name.

“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 was an integral part, did a terrific job and I enjoyed a personal rapport with him. But at the end of the day, people also have to make their own decisions and decide on what’s best for them and the direction that want to go,” Mysore added.

Under Shreyas, KKR finished on top of the table in IPL 2024. In the Qualifier 1, they got the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad before taking down the Orange Army in the final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.