'There was a layover and no concrete effort in having a retention talk...': Shreyas Iyer's massive revelation on parting ways with KKR

India middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer opened up on his decision to part ways with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Iyer who guided KKR to their third IPL title win in 2024 was not retained by the franchise despite them retaining their full quota of six players.

The Kolkata-based franchise retained Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakravarthy alongside the uncapped duo of Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh. Iyer said that there was a lack of communication from the Knight Riders and no concrete effort to retain him.

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"Certainly, I had a fantastic time winning the championship at KKR. The fan following was outstanding, they were electrifying in the stadium and I loved every moment I spent there. So obviously, we had a conversation straight after the IPL championship. But for a few months, there was a layover and no concrete effort in having a retention talk. I was perplexed about what’s happening. So, because of a lack of communication, we came to a situation where we parted ways, mutually. And that’s the long and short of it," Shreyas said in an interaction with Indian Express.

"Yes, obviously disappointed, because when you don’t have a certain line of communication and if you get to know things one week prior to the retention date, then obviously something is lacking over there. So I had to take a call. Whatever is written is supposed to happen. But other than that, I would just like to say that the time I spent over there with Shah Rukh Sir, the family, all of them, was phenomenal. And obviously, winning the championship was probably an integral part of my life," Shreyas added.

However, leaving KKR before the mega auction was a sort of blessing in disguise for Iyer as was brought by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a whopping 26.75 crore INR. With this Iyer becomes the second most expensive player in IPL history, only behind Rishabh Pant, who will earn Rs. 27 crore from the 2025 campaign after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) broke the bank with him