IPL 2025: Mohammad Kaif warns KKR against giving Shreyas Iyer the 'Eoin Morgan' treatment

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have their task cut out when they finalize their retention list ahead of the highly-awaited IPL 2025 mega auction.

They are the defending IPL champions and will definitely be disappointed over not being able to retain the whole winning squad. A number of players played a big role in Kolkata Knight Riders' triumphant campaign. The Kolkata-based outfit, however, can retain six players from its current squad, either through direct retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) card.

As a result, Kolkata Knight Riders can only retain a total of six players from a squad that boasts the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Phil Salt, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Harshit Rana and more.

While only time will reveal Kolkata Knight Riders' final retention list, former India batsman Mohammad Kaif believes that the three-time IPL champions should not make the mistake of releasing their captain Shreyas Iyer. He stated that the right-handed batsman should be the first player to be retained.

"When a team wins and becomes a champion, then you want the main players to continue playing for the team. So they would want to retain the maximum number of players, use RTM on a few and also buy fewer players in the auction," Mohammad Kaif told Star Sports.

"Talking about Iyer's batting, he may not play that well. But about his role as a captain, to lead the team to the title is a big thing. I think he has improved as a captain, he is getting better...If he can manage so many players and win you the trophy, then he deserves to be the first (to be retained)," Mohammad Kaif added.

Mohammad Kaif's warning for KKR:

Speaking further, Mohammad Kaif also fired a warning to Kolkata Knight Riders by reminding them of their decision to release Eoin Morgan. After Morgan led the Knight Riders to the final in IPL 2021, the franchise decided against retaining him ahead of the 2022 mega auction.

In the next two seasons, the team failed to make the cut for the playoffs. Kaif also did not mention the name of Rinku Singh while discussing the players that KKR could retain. He said that the franchise should first retain Iyer before thinking about the likes of Salt, Russell, and Narine.

"You cannot do what you did with Morgan. He led the side to the final, but was released later and KKR struggled in the next 2-3 seasons. Retain Iyer first and let him continue as captain. After that (think of) Phil Salt, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine. These 3-4 players they will have to retain. Two players you need to let be in the auction and bring them back from there," Mohammad Kaif said.

KKR are expected to announce the names of the retained players by the end of this month. The auction is likely to take place in December this year.