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IPL 2025 Retentions, Kolkata Knight Riders: Despite leading Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title last year, Shreyas Iyer wasn't retained by the franchise ahead of the mega auction for the 2025 edition.

Shreyas will now be part of the IPL 2025 mega auction pool after spending three years at KKR.

The IPL 2024 champions KKR decided to retain their six players whereas franchise CEO Venky Mysore revealed the thought process behind not retaining Shreyas.

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Mysore hinted that it was Shreyas's decision, and not KKR's, that led to his non-retention. He also hinted that the star Indian batter wanted to test his market value in the auction.

"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.

Mysore went on to mention that the auction retention process demands the mutual agreement between both franchise and the player which couldn't happen with Shreyas Iyer.

"What is fundamental to 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.

Notably, KKR bought Shreyas for a whopping amount of INR 12.25 crore in the IPL 2022 mega auction. He scored 401 runs in 14 matches in his debut season.

After missing out on the 2023 edition due to injury, Shreyas returned last year and helped the side lift the IPL title once again. He scored 351 runs in 14 matches at an average of 39.

Mysore stated that although he enjoys a personal rapport with Shreyas, the batter wanted to test his value in the auction, a decision that the franchise was happy to support.

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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.

While KKR retained Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, and uncapped players Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana, Shreyas has been heavily linked to his former team Delhi Capitals.

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