"KKR might also bid for his services" - Sunil Gavaskar on Shreyas Iyer heading into IPL 2025 auction
Sunil Gavaskar reckons the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) might look to reacquire Shreyas Iyer at the IPL 2025 auction. He noted that the Kolkata-based franchise might not have been able to retain this season's title-winning skipper before the auction due to a price disagreement.
KKR retained Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh ahead of the auction. They have a remaining budget of ₹51 crore to assemble the rest of their squad.
On the Star Sports show 'Game Plan', Gavaskar reflected on the Indian skippers who were released by their respective franchises. As for Shreyas, he said:
"When KKR won last year (IPL 2024), Shreyas Iyer was the captain. As I said earlier for Rishabh Pant as well, at times, there could be a disagreement on the fees."
"However, I also feel once Shreyas Iyer comes into the auction, KKR might also bid for his services. If KKR don't bid, I feel Delhi will do that," the former India captain added.
Shreyas aggregated 351 runs at a strike rate of 146.86 in 14 innings in IPL 2024. He captained the Delhi Capitals (DC) to the IPL 2020 final before being picked by KKR at the IPL 2022 auction.
"Delhi will definitely try to use the RTM card or bring Rishabh Pant back into their team at the auction" - Sunil Gavaskar
![Rishabh Pant was released by the Delhi Capitals ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/11/9b7c9-17318232133773-1920.jpg?w=500)
On the same show, Sunil Gavaskar opined that the Delhi Capitals will look to reacquire Rishabh Pant, who top-scored for them with 446 runs at a strike rate of 155.40 in 13 innings in IPL 2024, at the auction.
"Delhi will want him because they will also need to find a captain if Rishabh Pant isn't in their team. So I feel Delhi will definitely try to use the RTM card or bring Rishabh Pant back into their team at the auction," he reasoned.
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckons the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be interested in KL Rahul at the auction.
"I feel RCB might try to bring KL Rahul to Bengaluru. Chennai Super Kings can also try to bring him with them. So I feel these two southern franchises, Hyderabad might also do that, but Chennai and Bengaluru will definitely try for Rahul's services," Gavaskar observed.
The Lucknow Super Giants released Rahul ahead of the auction. With 520 runs at a strike rate of 136.12 in 14 innings, the wicketkeeper-batter was the Lucknow-based franchise's highest run-scorer in IPL 2024.