Is Shreyas Iyer 'Retainable' Enough For KKR? Defending Champions Spoilt For Choices Ahead Of IPL 2025 Auction

At the owners' meeting with BCCI in July, Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan had argued for a system of just RTMs and no retentions. For the defending champions, it would be tough to choose five capped and one uncapped player for retention and skipper Shreyas Iyer might be in the line of fire.

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer's retention ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction is still under doubt with the defending champions still thinking over their top six retentions. According to a report in Cricbuzz, if Kolkata had their way, they would like to retain most of their capped players but the franchise is wondering if Iyer is one of the top five capped ones who deserve retention. At the owners' meeting with BCCI in July, Kolkata co-owner Shah Rukh Khan had argued for a system of just RTMs and no retentions.

For the defending champions, it would be tough to choose five capped and one uncapped player for retention and Iyer might be in the line of fire. A champion team has multiple match-winners and the presence of players like Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer has ensured that Iyer isn't finding a sure-shot place in the retention list. According to the latest IPL retention rules, only five capped players can be retained.

While Narine, who was the MVP in IPL 2024, is guaranteed retention, no one else has their slot fixed, even Iyer, who led the team to a title after a decade. The Kolkata management, which is led by managing director Venky Mysore, are still looking at options for whom they can use RTM and who can be retained. Shreyas Iyer's Tenure At KKR In the IPL 2022 mega auction, Iyer was bought by Kolkata for Rs 12.

25 crores and was eventually named as skipper, replacing Eoin Morgan. He scored 401 runs in 14 matches that season, at a strike rate of 134.56 but Kolkata finished seventh.

In IPL 2023, Iyer's recurrent back injury flared up and he was ruled out of the entire season, with Nitish Rana stepping in as the captain. Iyer returned as the skipper ahead of IPL 2024 and led the franchise to its third title. He scored 351 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 146.

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