Kolkata Knight Riders batter Venkatesh Iyer was not retained by the franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League mega-auction. The explosive left-hander Venkatesh Iyer reacted to the retention call and said that while he wanted to play for the franchise but is okay with the franchise’s choice.
Venkatesh Iyer has been a key cog for KKR for four seasons, and expressed his emotion at not being retained by the franchise. The difficulty of having a mega auction right after winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) title is that a team is forced to bid goodbye to several players of the champion side. Such has been the case for IPL 2024 champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) this time around.
Despite managing to retain six of their stalwarts, KKR had to let go the likes of Mitchell Starc, Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer. The latter, who has been with the franchise since 2021, got emotional after not being retained.
Venkatesh Iyer excluded from the retained players list from 2024 Champions Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders picked Venkatesh Iyer over Shubman Gill ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction. The all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer played a vital role for the team in the last three years, particularly in 2024, when he scored 370 runs in 15 matches as the Shreyas Iyer-led side went on to win the title, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final. Ahead of the 2025 season, the three-time champions had to drop the majority of the players as teams were allowed to retain only six.
In IPL 2024, Venkatesh scored 370 runs in 15 matches. He was purchased by KKR in the IPL 2021 auction. He was a key player for them that season, scoring 370 runs at an average of 41 and 129 strike rate, as they finished as runners-up. On April 16, 2023, he got his maiden IPL ton vs Mumbai Indians, smacking 104 runs in 51 balls, becoming only the second KKR batter after Brendon McCullum to get a century. McCullum did it in the first match of IPL 2008, 15 years ago.
Cricket fans around the were left in shock when Kolkata Knight Riders announced their retention list on October 31. The franchise made some big decisions and excluded IPL 2024 title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer from that list. KKR decided to retain Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh.
Venkatesh Iyer has been a key cog for KKR over the previous four IPL seasons, helping them reach the final in 2021 and then lift the cup in 2024. He even hit the winning runs in the 2024 IPL final. Venkatesh Iyer had an ‘emotional’ reaction after KKR excluded him from their retention list.
KKR Star Venkatesh Iyer Gets Visibly Emotional After Not Being Retained for IPL 2025
All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer felt teary-eyed and emotional after seeing his name not in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)’s retention list for IPL 2025. But he is trying to be “practical” about the realities of the league and hopes that the franchise will get him back in the auction later this month.
KKR retained Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh ahead of the October 31 deadline. Venkatesh, who joined KKR in 2021 and was retained ahead of now-superstar Shubman Gill the following year, has over 1300 runs and three wickets from 51 matches.
“This is a family,” Venkatesh Iyer told Rev Sports.
“There’s so much emotion. It kind of makes me teary-eyed that my name is not on the retention list but I am a practical guy. I understand how it works. I was on the receiving end of on being one of the retentions in 2022 and I knew how it feels to be retained and to be left out as well.
“So, I think KKR have had a great retention, really happy for that. I would love to be there and the doors are open. If I have a good auction then I might still end up playing for the team I love the most.”
Venkatesh Iyer broke out as an opener but has had to slowly shift into the middle-order in the last three editions. More than his raw stats, though, KKR have recently felt Venkatesh Iyer’s importance in crunch, high-pressure matches. Last year, he scored half-centuries in each of KKR’s toughest fixtures — the final, the first Qualifier, and the away league game at the Wankhede Stadium against Mumbai Indians.
Venkatesh Iyer opens up on the retentions by KKR for 2025 season
Continuing in the mix of an emotional and pragmatic tone, Venkatesh also praised KKR’s retention choices for being well-balanced. He said:
“KKR has had a very good retention. I think they have covered easily 14-16 overs and with the bat, they have almost covered five positions. So, they had a great retention but I would have loved to be on that list. KKR have given me a big breakthrough and I have given everything for KKR…”
The IPL 2025 auction is reportedly slated to be held in the last week of November. KKR retained Rinku Singh (Rs 13 Crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 Crore), Sunil Narine (Rs 12 Crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 Crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 Crore) and Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 Crore). KKR go into the auction with Rs 51 crore in their purse.