Delhi: Shreyaar Iyer played an important role in helping Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) win their third IPL title in 2024. Despite this, the franchise did not retain Shreyas before the mega auction. Recently Shreyas revealed that he had not had any talks with the team management before the retention deadline. He also said that he was hopeful that KKR would retain him, but it did not happen and this matter surprised him.
Aakash Chopra expressed disagreement
However, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed disagreement with this statement of Shreyas. He claimed that there were talks between Shreyas and KKR, but both the parties could not reach any agreement.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel, “Now you start wondering what would have been KKR’s strategy. This is a franchise that always tries to retain its core team. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have always been with KKR. Even when Venkatesh Iyer was not retained, he was bought in the auction. “This franchise invests in relationships.”
He further said, “Shreyas Iyer was the captain of the team. He should have been in the plan. Shreyas has said that KKR did not talk to him, but I can confirm that there was a long conversation between him and KKR. That’s it, a compromise could not be reached. This is a separate issue.”
‘Karma is real’
Akash also said that Shreyas had some doubts in his mind during retention. He said, “I am not going to tell everything. But, Shreyas had some apprehensions in his mind and what happened is quite interesting. Sometimes it seems that karma really happens.”
He reiterated, “I can say that there was a conversation. But, Shreyas is saying that no discussion took place, there is a slight difference here. I am making this claim based on my sources.”
Shreyas Iyer was bought for Rs 26.75 crore during the mega auction held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history.
