As per reports, Jos Buttler and Arshdeep Singh are expected to attract significant interest from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega-auction.
The defending champions utilized their full quota of six retentions by keeping the services of Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh intact. The Kolkata-based franchise let go of their star performers, skipper Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc and Phil Salt.
Although, KKR have kept their middle-order strong with retentions, they need a few quality top-order batters. In his aspect, Buttler is reportedly being looked upon as a player who could fill up the spot well.
The Englishman returned as Rajasthan Royals’ best batter in the last three-year cycle. He slammed a total of 1,614 runs in 42 games, with six centuries. Notably, he amassed 863 runs in the 2022 season, and helped the Royals emerge as the runner-up.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep represented Punjab Kings since his IPL debut in 2019, and secured 76 wickets in 65 games. He produced his best-ever season in 2024, with 19 scalps; but could not be among the retained players by the franchise.
The left-arm pacer could perfectly fill the place of Starc and put opposition batters in check in death overs with his toe-crushing yorkers and pacy bouncers.
Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer respond to KKR’s release with sensational knocks in Ranji Trophy
After not getting retained by KKR, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer piled on runs in their respective ongoing Ranji Trophy games.
Playing for Mumbai, Shreyas slammed 233 off 228 balls and stitched a terrific 354-run stand with Siddhesh Lad (169*) against Assam. As a result, the side went on to declare on a mammoth total of 602/4. Currently, Assam are at 75/1.
Meanwhile, Venkatesh arrived at No. 6 for Madhya Pradesh in a clash against Bihar. The southpaw went on to smash 174 off 176 and put together a 366-run stand with skipper Shubham Sharma (240), as the side compiled a first-innings total of 616. After the end of Day 2, Bihar are at 131/4.
Recently, Venkatesh Iyer expressed his disappointment on not getting retained by KKR. However, he aspires to return to play for the franchise in IPL 2025. He said:
“This is a family. There’s so much emotion. It kind of makes me teary-eyed that my name is not on the retention list but I am a practical guy. I understand how it works. I was on the receiving end of being one of the retentions in 2022 and I knew how it feels to be retained and to be left out as well. So, I think KKR have had a great retention, really happy for that. I would love to be there and the doors are open. If I have a good auction then I might still end up playing for the team I love the most.”
