The difficulty of having a mega auction right after winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) title is that a team is forced to bid goodbye to several players of the champion side. Such has been the case for IPL 2024 champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) this time around. Despite managing to retain six of their stalwarts, KKR had to let go the likes of Mitchell Starc, Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer. The latter, who has been with the franchise since 2021, got emotional after not being retained.
“In the case of KKR, it’s a complete family. It’s not just the 16, 20 or 25 players, but also the management, the staff, the guys behind the scenes. There is so much emotion behind that that it kind of makes me a little teary-eyed that my name is not on the retention list,” said a heartfelt Venkatesh Iyer to RevSportz.
“Because there is no video of KKR bidding for me in my first auction, during this auction I would sit like an excited kid to see if KKR put up the paddle for me and if they do, it will mean the world to me,” he further said.
Venkatesh has been a key cog for KKR over the previous four IPL seasons, helping them reach the final in 2021 and then lift the cup in 2024. He even hit the winning runs in the 2024 IPL final.
While Venkatesh emphasised the emotion and family feeling at the Knight Riders, he admitted that the franchise has made good retentions.
“The honest thing, as someone who analyses cricket as well, is that KKR has had a very good retention. They have covered 14-16 overs with the ball, and with the bat, they have covered five positions,” said Venkatesh.
“I would’ve loved to be on the retention list, KKR has given me the big breakthrough and I’ve given everything for them,” he added right after.
Venkatesh enjoyed a stellar second half of IPL 2024, hitting four fifties and scoring 370 runs at a strike rate of 158.80.
Despite not being retained, Venkatesh said that the doors are open for him to return.
“The doors are open, and if I have a good auction, I may still end up playing for the team I love the most,” said Venkatesh.
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