3 reasons why KKR letting Shreyas Iyer go ahead of IPL 2025 auction is the right move
You do not often see a title-winning team let go of its influential and loved captain just a few months later. But the reality of the capitalist, ruthless, and result-oriented IPL is that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Shreyas Iyer have parted ways after one of the most commanding wins in tournament history.
On the face of it, KKR are much weaker without Shreyas. He was a no-nonsense skipper, a far cry away from basic mistakes on the field, and someone whose batting improved with added responsibility. Being the most experienced captain in IPL currently, he could have provided KKR with stability at a turbulent time when they lost half the squad and most of the coaching staff.
But if you go into more detail and read between the lines, KKR won't mind losing Shreyas as much at this moment. A year or two earlier, in the middle of a cycle, they'd have probably done everything to keep him but now it makes sense.
Below, we explain in three points why it's a good move and can work in KKR's favor.
#3 Shreyas Iyer's batting qualities couldn't have made him the first retention
There have been several reports suggesting reasons why the conversations between KKR and Shreyas didn't work out. One even says that the Mumbaikar wanted a record-breaking ₹30 crore from the team for retention.
But we won't use that as a parameter here. Instead, let's consider whether he deserved to be the first retention for the franchise or not. If you consider the above-mentioned factors about his captaincy, then perhaps yes, he deserved it.
However, if you look at his primary skill, batting, Shreyas hasn't done enough to be the first retention. Despite a good 2024 season, where he batted across multiple positions and played a few good cameos with an overall strike rate of 140-plus, Shreyas has a career IPL strike rate of 127.48 after scoring over 3000 runs.
He's a brilliant ODI and red-ball batter but at KKR, his T20 batting skills were not too dissimilar to Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana. He was brilliant against spin but his weaknesses against pace were obvious and easily targeted.
This is why his batting position often overlapped with Venkatesh and Rana and playing even two of them last year hurt Rinku Singh's batting, for the latter hardly got enough time to come at the crease. It didn't hurt KKR last year, thanks to Phil Salt and Sunil Narine's opening success but the team balance wasn't perfect.
Although Shreyas would be difficult to replace as a captain, KKR can easily upgrade his batting from the auction at a much lower price than first retention. Even getting Venkatesh and Rana back would be much cheaper and both offer similar versatility and even bowling skills to compensate for Shreyas' absence.
#2 It has allowed them to retain a T20 specialist core
Before criticizing KKR for letting Shreyas go, see what they have ended up with: Rinku (₹13 crore), Narine (₹12 crore), Russell (₹12 crore), Varun Chakaravarthy (₹12 crore), Harshit Rana (₹4 crore), and Ramandeep Singh (₹4 crore).
That is six T20 specialist players at prices much lower than their probable auction value. With three Indians and two long-serving, though aged, overseas all-rounders, KKR have just the right core to build a well-balanced squad.
Unlike Shreyas, the six have played hundreds of T20Is, are currently playing T20 international cricket, or are in the pipeline to play in the future. If KKR were to keep Shreyas at a high retention price, they'd have to let go of one of these six while also probably upsetting another player with a smaller contract.
KKR's bowling and all-round prowess were their biggest strengths last season and they have retained both. Now, with a good budget of ₹51 crore, they have enough wiggle room to get most of Salt, Venkatesh, Rana, and Vaibhav Arora back in a more balanced way and another X-factor like Mitchell Starc.
#1 Finding a new captain might not be as tough as it seems
When KKR signed Shreyas for ₹12.5 crore in the last mega auction three years ago, it divided the fanbase. Even then some thought that he wasn't a good enough batter for T20s while others felt his captaincy potential deserved the price.
In hindsight, because he was one of the few decent captains on the market, the latter group was right. But this year, thanks to the chaos at other teams, there will be a big number of captaincy options available - Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul (both can solve the keeping issue for KKR too), and Faf du Plessis, to name a few.
Moreover, KKR have a few players who can take up the role. Narine captains a few Knight Riders teams in leagues around the world while guys like Venkatesh, and Rinku, too, could lead, having been part of the team for a long time now.
For KKR, captaincy has always been a controversial issue. But given it's the start of a new cycle and good captaincy options available, keeping a strong core of T20 specialists was a more pressing need than retaining a proven leader.
It's always a debate whether captains are as good as the teams or if it's the other way around. KKR have gambled that Shreyas was only as good as an outstanding batting run and a perfect bowling unit made him look and you can't fault them for it.