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.

After the auction, Nitish Rana's wife Saachi Marwah went to social media and made a comment towards KKR as they did not retain him.

The 2025 IPL auction saw KKR shell out ₹23.75 crore for Venkatesh Iyer, leading to speculation of a captaincy role. This comes despite KKR's decision against retaining their 2024 title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer,