Shreyas Iyer, Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL 2024-winning captain, made a startling claim on Monday. The IPL winning skipper was not retained by KKR and Iyer broke his silence on the issue. He said there was lack of communication from the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned team. He went on to say that he was 'perplexed' about what was happening. However, former India opener Aakash Chopra has rubbished the claims, quoting 'sources'.
"So obviously, we had a conversation straight after the IPL championship. But for a few months, there was a layover and no concrete effort in having a retention talk. I was perplexed about what's happening. So, because of a lack of communication, we came to a situation where we parted ways, mutually. And that's the long and short of it," Shreyas Iyer told Indian Express.
"Yes, obviously disappointed, because when you don't have a certain line of communication and if you get to know things one week prior to the retention date, then obviously something is lacking over there. So I had to take a call. Whatever is written is supposed to happen."
However, Aakash Chopra, who is a former Kolkata Knight Riders players, refuted the claims.
"Shreyas Iyer was the captain. He should have been in the original scheme of things. But KKR did not talk to him, according to Iyer's statement. Now, I can confirm that there were talks. In fact, there was a lengthy talk. There were quite a few meetings. There was no agreement in those meeting. But that's a different matter. The bone of contention, I don't want to spell it out, but it was 'that' only," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"Shreyas had some apprehensions too. Shreyas had some apprehensions, and what transpired is quite interesting. Sometimes you start thinking, 'karma is real yaar', you never know. However, Shreyas might see this and say 'there were no discussions'. I can confirm there were talks. I, too, have my sources."