IPL 2025: 'There's something called Emotion' - Venkatesh Iyer breaks silence after KKR snub

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Venkatesh Iyer has opened up on Kolkata Knight Riders' retention picks ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, after being neglected a retention spot.

Venkatesh Iyer was on the KKR retention list before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, when he was named among the players at the expense of Shubman Gill.

For the 2025 season, KKR faced a tough decision as the IPL regulations allowed teams to retain only six players. In this tight selection process, KKR opted for Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh, leaving Venkatesh Iyer out of their retained list.

The 29-year-old cricketer from Indore expressed his understanding of the team's strategy, acknowledging that the selected players cover a substantial portion of the game. Despite his exclusion from the retention list, Iyer expressed a deep connection with KKR, referring to it as his home and favorite IPL team.

"KKR has had a very good retention. I think they have covered easily 14-16 overs and with the bat, they have almost covered five positions. So, they had a great retention but I would have loved to be on that list. KKR have given me a big breakthrough and I have given everything for KKR and beyond cricket, there's something called emotion," Venkatesh said while speaking with RevSportz.

The India all-rounder further spoke highly about the franchise, which is known for its embracing culture. Kolkata Knight Riders has always been a team tightly knitted from players to the owners, and Iyer depicted the same.

"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 on 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," Iyer added.

The southpaw played a key part for KKR in their title-winning season in 2024. He was sublime with the bat, where he managed to amass 370 runs with a strike rate of 158. Even in the 2023 season, Iyer managed to score 404 runs for the Knight Riders.