Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) prioritised retaining their championship core, splashing Rs 23.75 crore on Venkatesh Iyer. Unable to keep Nitish Rana, KKR brought in Manish Pandey and Ajinkya Rahane to bolster their batting line-up.

KKR went all out for Venkatesh Iyer for INR 23.75 crore, who might probably and potentially be their captaincy option for IPL 2025. However, the Knight Riders did balance out that bid with some steals of Anrich Nortje,

There has been a lot of conversation surrounding the captaincy situation in Kolkata Knight Riders following the IPL 2025 auction.