The newly-appointed Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer has spoken publicly about his decision to part ways with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Despite leading KKR to their third IPL title in 2024, the defending champions did not retain him, despite having the option to retain their full quota of six players.
KKR instead went on to retain Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakravarthy, along with the uncapped duo of Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh. Shreyas expressed his disappointment at not continuing with the franchise, citing a lack of communication from the Knight Riders and a perceived absence of concrete efforts to retain his services.
Shreyas Iyer opens up on KKR departure
"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," he further added.
Iyer hit the jackpot in IPL 2025 mega auction as he commanded a massive sum of Rs. 26.75 crores, with the PBKS securing his services. With this he became the most expensive player in the history of IPL. However, his tage of most expensive player was short-lived as Lucknow Super Giants grabbed the services of Rishabh Pant at a whopping sum of Rs 27 crore right after that.
"We all know Shah Rukh sir, he’s a heartthrob and people go bonkers whenever they look at him. He’s got this certain zest when he walks into the room, that energy, that vibration. And he’s a dominant figure, obviously. I got to learn a lot from him. He is very kind and generous in nature. And probably that’s what makes him pretty unique as an individual. I love his confidence level and self-belief about the team the most. It was surreal," Iyer further said.
The Mumbai batter has been appointed as the captain of PBKS for the upcoming 2025 IPL season. He will become the 17th player to lead the franchise in their history. This appointment will make Shreyas the first Indian cricketer to captain three different teams in the IPL.
Prior to this, Shreyas captained the Delhi Capitals (DC) from 2018 to 2020, leading them to their sole IPL final appearance to date. He also led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2022 and 2024 seasons, missing the 2023 season due to injury. Notably, Shreyas holds the record of being the only captain in IPL history to lead two different teams to the IPL final.