Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Venky Mysore shared that Shreyas Iyer was their top retention priority but they couldn’t agree on terms with him before the October 31 deadline. Mysore hinted that Shreyas decided to move on, claiming more money or a will to test his value in the auction as possible factors as well. However, KKR eventually retained Rinku Singh (₹13 crore), Sunil Narine (₹12 crore), Andre Rusell (₹12 crore), Varun Chakarvarthy (₹12 crore), Harshit Rana (₹4 crore), and Ramandeep Singh (₹4 crore) as well.

“The interesting thing about retention is that there are so many aspects to it and forces as play,” Venky Mysroe was quoted as saying by Rev Sports via News 18. “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. 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.”

However, Venky Mysore also confirmed that KKR would likely not try to get him back in the auction, praised Shreyas for his contributions to KKR and gave a mark of respect to his decision as well.

“He’s captain and we have to build around that leadership and we picked him in 2022 specifically for that (sic). 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,” Venky Mysore concluded.