NEW DELHI: After weeks of suspense, there was some dialogue between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and captain Shreyas Iyer. The deadline for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to submit their list of retained players is just days away (October 31) and KKR have finally reached out to Iyer.
It is understood that the conversation happened during the weekend and prior to that, there was no approach from the defending IPL champions.
“As of last Friday, the two parties hadn’t spoken. There was lot of word going around on Shreyas Iyer and KKR but the two never sat across the table to have any discussion with regards to the plans for future or the IPL retentions. The first conversation happened on Sunday,” said a source close to developments.
Timesofindia.com had reported earlier this month that Iyer’s retention is not as straightforward as many thought it would be. He was understood to be in the franchise’s plans but not as a top retention.
The industry sources, however, are surprised that it took the Kolkata unit weeks to even initiate a dialogue with their captain, who has naturally been approached by multiple franchises for a leadership role.
“Iyer won a title last season, has been a proven leader when he successfully led Delhi Capitals. He has been a hot property in the league and it’s no surprise there were approaches from multiple franchise the moment KKR chose to take a backseat. If he goes into the auction pool, there will be at least three franchises who would be looking to get him. Indian middle-order bat, proven leader. Who would want to miss that combination? Not many,” said an industry source.
KKR are one of the few franchises who are spoilt for choice as far as retentions are concerned, and it should come as no surprise that co-owner Shah Rukh Khan had advocated for a smaller action during a meeting between BCCI top brass and franchises earlier this year. KKR wanted more Right to Match (RTM) options and it could well be their strategy at the upcoming mega auction too.
With Gautam Gambhir, Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar taking up roles with the Indian cricket team, there will be fresh additions to the KKR backroom set-up and no clarity on captaincy means a very new-look unit could well take the field in the IPL next season.
The chatter of Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine and Harshit Rana getting retained is getting louder as the franchise could well use the RTM cards to stick with Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer/Nitish Rana. There will be considerable interest in Mitchell Starc, too, because the quick, who they got for Rs 24.75 crores at the mini auction last year, delivered when it mattered most.