KRR Player Venkatesh Iyer Get Emotional After Not Being Retained: The challenge of holding a huge auction immediately following an Indian Premier League (IPL) championship is that a team must say goodbye to a number of the winning team’s players.

This time around, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the IPL 2024 winners, have been like that.

Even though they were able to keep six of its mainstays, KKR was forced to let go of players like Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, and Mitchell Starc. After being let go, the latter, who has been with the team since 2021, became upset.

“KKR is a whole family in this instance. 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.

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“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 added.

KKR has benefited greatly from Venkatesh’s contributions during the past four IPL seasons, reaching the final in 2021 and winning the cup in 2024. In the 2024 IPL final, he even hit the game-winning runs.

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Venkatesh acknowledged that the franchise had made strong retentions, but he emphasized the emotion and sense of family at the Knight Riders.

“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.

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“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.

With four fifties and 370 runs with a strike rate of 158.80 in the second half of the 2024 Indian Premier League, Venkatesh had an incredible second half.

“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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MS Dhoni ‘Not Confirmed’ For IPL 2025 Yet: There are much news surrounding MS Dhoni’s future with CSK in the forthcoming IPL 2025.

Dhoni’s prospects of being retained increased significantly when the new IPL retention criteria declared him a “uncapped player,” but neither the team nor the seasoned cricket player have made any formal confirmations.

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Dhoni’s communication about his retention was just disclosed by Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan. He emphasized that although Dhoni has not confirmed anything, CSK is desperate to keep him, and he would inform them before October 31, which is the deadline for IPL retentions.

“We also want Dhoni to play in the CSK team. But Dhoni has not confirmed it to us yet. Dhoni said, ‘I will tell you before October 31.’ We hope that he will play,” Kasi Viswanathan was quoted by Sports Vikatan according to India Today.

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The former regulation that permitted franchises to register players who had retired from international cricket or who had not played for a lengthy period as “uncapped” was reinstated by the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council.

All ten IPL teams were given the opportunity to reconsider their retention plans thanks to the law, but many feel that the modifications were made specifically for the great MS Dhoni, who the Chennai Super Kings can now keep for just INR 4 crore as an uncapped player.

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Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif feels certain that the IPL rules were altered only to allow Dhoni to play on, despite CSK’s claim that they had not spoken with him about the issue.

“You will get the chance to see MS Dhoni again. He is fit, batting at a strike rate of 200, keeping well, and that is why I believe the rules will keep changing till he wants to play. If he wants to play in the IPL, he will play. He is such a big player, such a big match-winner, and has been a leader for CSK,” said Kaif during a chat on Star Sports.

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