The defending champions of the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), have left out their captain from the last season, Shreyas Iyer, in the retention list of the tournament along with some of their vital members of the winning campaign. They have retained the middle order batter Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, and some of their other essential members of the side.
The mega auction of the IPL 2025 will be held in Jeddah in Riyadh on November 24 and 25, as they are keeping an eye on the left-arm pacer of the Indian side, Arshdeep Singh, who has been released by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) before the auction. He is the fourth leading wicket-taker of India, with 87 scalps in 56 innings at an average of 18.35.
The left-arm pacer recorded 19 wickets in 14 innings at an average of 10.03 with a best bowling figure of 4/29. In the season before that, in 2023, the pacer recorded 17 scalps in the tournament with an average of 29. The veteran deleted all his Instagram posts related to Punjab Kings a few days back, hinting at the end of the relationship with them.
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KKR could be looking at him to shoulder the responsibility of the pace attack, who has already decided not to retain Mitchell Starc and some of the other high-profile members. The likes of Harshit Rana, Varun, and Singh could make a strong line-up in the bowling department.
KKR aims to shake hands with Jos Buttler from the 2025 season of IPL
The three-time champions of the 20-over tournament have secured their middle order thanks to Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, and Andre Russell. If they keep on going with Sunil Narine at the opening position, who can smash the ball hard in different parts of the ground, then the need for them is to find his opening partner.
The reports have claimed that KKR may look to save a few crores for the England opening batter and their white-ball captain, Jos Buttler, who, despite being one of the aggressive batters of the league, has earned so much success with the Rajasthan Royals over the years, will enter the mega auction of the tournament.
The wicket-keeper batter has clubbed 3582 runs in 106 innings at an average of 38.10 and a strike rate of over 147 with the help of 19 half-centuries and seven centuries at a best score of 124 runs. The Taunton-born also cracked 359 runs at a strike rate of over 140 in 2024, but his recent drop in form could be one of the reasons for the Royals not to seal the deal in the retention.
The presence of Buttler means KKR can solve their opening position, the wicket-keeping slot, and a potential leader for the edition of the league. Last year, they already had so much success with Phil Salt, and if they can buy Buttler in the auction, they won’t need to have much headache for the powerplay period of the game.
However, the issue is the majority of the England player’s participation in the league for the entire season. The Three Lions will be playing a five-match Test series against India just after the IPL, along with the one-off Test against England, the two white-ball series against West Indies and South Africa.
KKR can also aim to get back the Lancashire wicket-keeper batter Phil Salt for the new season.