Venkatesh Iyer IPL 2026 Auction: As the IPL 2026 mini-auction gets close, Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore has finally spoken about the team’s much talked-about choice to release all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. The 26-year-old had gone for a huge price of Rs 23.75 crore in the 2025 mega-auction, but his poor season has now pushed him back into the auction pool.
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Even after a bad season, Iyer still stands as one of the strongest Indian all-rounders in the auction. He enters this year’s list with a base price of Rs 2 crore. Only two Indian players sit in that bracket, so he stays one of the most wanted names.
The auction on December 16 in Abu Dhabi has 1,355 players in total, with 45 players in the INR 2 crore group. But teams together have only 77 open spots, which means very hard competition for players like Iyer.
Tough Season
Iyer struggled badly in IPL 2025. He made only 142 runs in 11 matches and could not help much with his bowling either. This dip played a big part in KKR releasing him even though they had invested so much money in him last year. The team had hoped he would become a strong Indian all-rounder who could help both with bat and ball.
In a recent talk, Venky Mysore shared how the team came to this decision.
He said, “If he had scored 500 runs, nobody would’ve talked about the price tag. Maybe it did affect him. It was probably his toughest year for us since 2021. When you’re at the auction table, you think — should we retain and restrict ourselves, or release and keep flexibility with the purse? Last year was a learning experience, and considering the mini-auction dynamics, we chose to release him.”
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Mysore Criticises Auction System
Mysore also repeated his views about how frequent mega-auctions cause trouble for teams. He said that these big auctions break team rhythm and stop long-term planning.
He said, “We told the IPL that you can’t penalize franchises who scout talent, groom them and succeed, only to dismantle the team every three years. Retentions shouldn’t carry such a heavy price. You win a title and then have to break the squad apart. I’m not someone who finds mega auctions exciting.”
