‘He Won't Allow’: Aakash Chopra Feels Shah Rukh Khan Will Retain Shreyas Iyer At First In IPL 2025 Auction

Cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra feels Shreyas Iyer will be the first player to be retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Under the leadership of Shreyas, the Kolkata-based franchise clinched the IPL 2024 title after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the summit clash. 

Chopra further added that KKR owner Shah Rukh Khan will not get rid of Shreyas Iyer and will retain in the team.

"You want to firstly retain the captain, who is Shreyas Iyer. If 18 crores go, let them go because you won't get a captain. He is your winning captain. If Gautam (Gambhir) isn't there, retain your captain to maintain some continuity. There is no doubt that you should retain Shreyas Iyer," he said on YouTube.

2012, 2014, and  pic.twitter.com/9nm5XCx5Pz — KolkataKnightRiders (KKRiders) May 26, 2024

"You might get Shreyas Iyer for 18 crores using the RTM but never do that with the captain because eventually this game is played by humans, and humans have hearts, and thereby emotions. Who will understand emotions better than Khan sahab (Shahrukh Khan)? So I feel he won't allow Shreyas Iyer to go," the former India opener added.

"Second - since I am looking from the Indian perspective, if Rinku Singh comes to the market, he will be sold for 14 crores. So retain Rinku Singh for sure. Retain both Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. The problem is that if you retain both, one will be for 11 crores but the fourth retention will be for 18 crores. I would say it is still worth it," he said.

Earlier, the IPL Governing Council came up with a few rules ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. As per new rules, every team can retain a maximum of six players using Retentions and the Right to Match (RTM) options.