Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had a blistering campaign in the 2024 IPL season, winning the title for the first time in 10 years, their last triumph being in 2014 against the Kings XI Punjab in the Final.
The return of Gautam Gambhir as mentor, made the perfect pair alongside skipper Shreyas Iyer as the captain-mentor duo led the Kolkata side to the prestigious trophy.
KKR will be defending the title in the 2025 season, however, there's a mega auction set to take place ahead of the season, putting the management into a retention dilemma.
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The 2024 champion side created the perfect balance in the team with consistent performers throughout the XI, a key ingredient to their recent success. Players like Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Phil Salt and Varun Chakravarthy all have had a decent season.
Considering KKR decided to retain four players from their star-studded team, in today’s story with The Sporting News, we take a look at the players with the highest chances of getting retained in the KKR side ahead of the 2025 IPL season.
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Who will KKR retain ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction?
Shreyas Iyer
The captain is the most likely player to be retained ahead of the 2025 IPL mega auction. Iyer led the team beautifully, defeating Pat Cummins’ Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) twice in the playoffs, initially in Qualifier 1 and then the Final.
Iyer’s team set the perfect strategy to get the highly dangerous opening duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma early in the game. Their early departure in both games played a major role in KKR’s triumph.
Iyer played a blistering knock of 58 runs in just 24 deliveries as KKR steamrolled SRH to an eight-wicket victory.
KKR also finished first in the group stages, winning nine of the fourteen games they played. Iyer played his part as leader and is likely to be the first player to be retained ahead of IPL 2025.
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Sunil Narine
Sunil Narine was probably KKR’s best player in the 2024 season, contributing with both bat as well as the ball. Narine along with Phil Salt gave important starts to KKR’s innings, scoring runs and building partnerships at a high rate.
Narine scored close to 500 runs in the campaign along with 17 wickets. Averaging just over 20 with the ball, and scoring runs at a strike rate of 180, Narine has cemented his place in the team as one of the essentials, putting him right alongside Iyer on the retention list.
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Andre Russell
West Indian all-rounder, Andre Russell is expected to be retained in KKR’s team following the 2024 season. The Jamaican power-hitter scored 222 runs for KKR throughout the season along with 19 wickets.
Russell’s seniority over the years along with his experience and important contributions, makes him a valuable asset and is expected to be retained for the next season.
Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy was one of the few bowlers who stood out in a season where bowlers were simply at the mercy of the batting side. The 2024 IPL season saw teams scoring over 200 runs regularly, even reaching totals of 250+ at times.
Chakravarthy ended the campaign as the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament behind PBKS’ Harshal Patel. Chakravarthy picked up 21 wickets for his side, leaking runs at just over 8 an over. His performances in a batters-dominated tournament are highly commendable, earning him a spot on the retention list