While the individual amounts of each of KKR’s likely withholdings are not yet known, they will lose at least INR 47 crore for four players (including one uncapped) or INR 51 crore for five players (including two uncapped ).
The big development in the KKR camp is the possible release of Iyer, their captain, and Russell, who has been with them since IPL 2014. Iyer was their most expensive buy in the 2022 mega auction (INR 12.25 million rupees – $1,633 million approximately at that time) when KKR was looking for a new captain. Russell had been held for INR 12 crore before that auction.
Iyer led KKR to the IPL title in the 2024 season, scoring 351 runs at a strike rate of nearly 147, their first win since 2014. While he will be optimistic about attracting big bids in the mega auction, considering some franchises They might need a captain. and Russell, one of the best Indian batsmen, will also be a big attraction. He scored 222 runs at a strike rate of 185 last season and took 19 wickets, three of which came in the IPL final.
Among the retained players, Narine, Rinku and Varun have played vital roles for KKR over the past few seasons. Narine, who was signed for INR 6 crore ($722,000 approx then) in 2022, was the MVP in 2024 for his explosiveness at the top of the order and his 17 wickets at an economy rate of 6.69 . Varun, who joined the franchise in 2020 and was retained in 2022 for INR 8 crore (approximately $1.066 million back then), has 41 wickets (8.09 economy) in the last two seasons, the most of any bowler. Rinku, whose IPL performances catapulted him into the India T20I team, has a strike rate of 207.97 since 2022.
Rana is emerging as a promising fast bowler and is part of India’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of Australia, while Ramandeep’s IPL and domestic performances earned him a place in India’s squad for the recent Asia Cup. of Emerging Players in Oman.
