Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) clinched their third title by defeating SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. After the victory, former international players Ambati Rayudu and Kevin Pietersen shared their thoughts on the KKR retentions for the upcoming IPL season.

Kolkata Knight Riders recorded an 8-wicket victory over the Pat Cummins-led team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, May 26. The Shreyas Iyer-led team chased down the target of 114 runs in just 10.3 overs. It is worth noting that the Knight Riders secured the first place in the standings after the league phase.

The Kolkata team built a strong Indian core, comprising Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy, as well as quality foreign players. Chakaravarthy emerged as KKR’s leading wicket-taker in the season with 21 scalps, followed by Harshit Rana (19) and Andre Russell (19).

Speaking on Star Sports, Ambati Rayudu suggested that the winners or runners-up should be awarded 2-3 additional player retentions as a reward for their exceptional performance throughout the season.

“And maybe, you know, the winner should get 2-3 extra places or maybe those who made it to the final. They should get it because they deserve it, they played a brilliant season, so maybe they should get an extra 2-3 “. points in terms of retention”, Rayudu said.

Every team has to achieve exactly the same thing – Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen disagreed with Ambati Rayudu’s statement and stated that each franchise should receive the same number of retentions. Pietersen argued that maintaining parity is crucial to building a franchise and ensuring fairness between all teams.

“No, I think every team has to get exactly the same because you want to build a franchise and you want to build a team. You don’t just want to go and say OK, OK, KKR. You played well. Just go and take care of yourselves and the team you came last like Punjab, but they don’t want to, I mean, maybe they do want to get rid of some players. Maybe not, but, uh, I think it just has to be exactly the same.” Pietersen said.

As the three-year IPL cycle comes to an end, all franchises will rebuild their teams. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will face the crucial task of determining the retention policy. The number of retentions directly impacts the composition of the teams, especially their core, for next year’s tournament.

In the IPL 2022 mega auction, franchises had a purse of Rs 90 crore and could retain up to 4 players, with limits for Indian and foreign players.

42 million rupees were deducted from his purse for retaining four players. The first player retained cost Rs 16 million, followed by Rs 12 million, Rs 8 million and Rs 6 million for the fourth option. There was no right to match (RTM) option due to the entry of two new teams.

Also Read: Watch: Suresh Raina hilariously mocks Rinku Singh with ‘ofhoo’ in viral video after KKR’s win in IPL 2024