Legendary Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar reckons Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will look to rope in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024-winning captain Shreyas Iyer in the mega auction. KKR have exhausted all their six retentions and dont' have a Right to Match (RTM) card available for the auction. Gavaskar feels KKR will bid for KKR. However, if they don't given Rs 51 crore left in the purse, Iyer's former franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) will bid for him.
"When KKR won last year (IPL 2024), Shreyas Iyer was the captain. As I said earlier for Rishabh Pant as well, at times, there could be a disagreement on the fees," Gavaskar said on Star Sports' show 'Game Plan'.
"However, I also feel once Shreyas Iyer comes into the auction, KKR might also bid for his services. If KKR don't bid, I feel Delhi will do that," he added.
KKR retained Rinku Singh (Rs 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (Rs 12 crore), Sunil Narine (Rs 12 crore), Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore), Harshit Rana (Rs 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (Rs 4 crore) ahead of the mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If the bid goes high for Iyer, KKR may backout as they don't have a hefty purse to fill up the rest of the squad.
In IPL 2024, Iyer had decent numbers with the bat as well scoring 351 runs from 14 innings at an average of 39 including two fifties. His strike rate was 146.86.
RTM card for Pant
Meanwhile, Gavaskar feels that DC will look to use the RTM card for Pant. The wicketkeeper-batter made an emphatic run after missing cricketing action for over a year due to unfortunate car accident. DC missed out on on a playoffs spot on the basis of net run rate (NRR).
"Delhi will want him because they will also need to find a captain if Rishabh Pant isn't in their team. So I feel Delhi will definitely try to use the RTM card or bring Rishabh Pant back into their team at the auction," he said.
Pant was impressive with the bat averaging over 40 with 446 runs from 13 innings including three fifties. He missed one crucial match due to a ban over slow over rate.
CSK, RCB to bid for Rahul
The 74-year-old also named two franchises who will be interested in the services of another captaincy candidate, KL Rahul.
"I feel RCB might try to bring KL Rahul to Bengaluru. Chennai Super Kings can also try to bring him with them. So I feel these two southern franchises, Hyderabad might also do that, but Chennai and Bengaluru will definitely try for Rahul's services," Gavaskar opined.
Rahul could not take LSG to playoffs and his strike rate of 136.12 was under the scanner but he managed to cross the 500-run mark again. He scored 520 runs from 14 innings at an average of 37.14 including four half-centuries.
