Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra reckons Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shahrukh Khan won’t release captain Shreyas Iyer before the auction. Iyer led KKR to glory in the previous season of the IPL after they defeated SRH in the final.

The Mumbai batter scored 351 runs in 14 innings at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 146.86 in IPL 2024. The right-hander has scored 3127 runs in 115 IPL matches at an average of 32.24 and a strike rate of 127.48.

“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,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

Chopra reckons KKR will hurt Iyer’s emotions if they retain him using the Right to Match card.

“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.

The former Delhi player wants KKR to retain Rinku Singh for sure. Chopra also wants the three-time champions to back West Indies’ duo of all-rounders – Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.

​​”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.

The former KKR batter doesn’t want the franchise to retain Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Harshit Rana, if he doesn’t remain uncapped, before the auction. Rana has been picked in India’s T20I squad for Bangladesh series but he is yet to make his debut.

“That is where I will stop. Look to retain only four players. If Harshit Rana remains uncapped, I will try to retain him for four crores. Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer are quality players but if all three of them go into the auction, none of them might go for 14 crores and probably not even for 11 crores,” Chopra explained.

IPL mega auction is likely to take place in December.