Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore has once again expressed his displeasure over the IPL mega auction. With the franchise preparing for the much-awaited mini-auction this month, Venky Mysore has made it clear that he is not a big fan of mega-auctions.
The mega-auction is held every three years, giving teams the opportunity to completely overhaul their squads. However, this also destroys continuity. Settler squads that have spent years are destroyed overnight. The same process that allows franchises to make radical changes to their squads also forces them to break up well-established combinations.
KKR had to bear the brunt of the mega auction in IPL 2025. Their title-winning team disintegrated in 2025 and they lost several key players, including their captain Shreyas Iyer. As a result, KKR not only failed to defend their title but also failed to advance into the playoffs.
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As KKR looks to rebuild a strong team, Venky Mysore has said that the mega auction is like a punishment for the franchise. He said franchises work ‘very, very hard’ to build teams and the mega auction undoes all that hard work.
“We have made our position very clear when last year we franchises had a big discussion with the IPL on retention and many other important topics. We had said that you cannot punish franchises who have worked very hard in identifying talent, building teams to develop them and they have had success. And suddenly you are saying that’s it, let’s have a mega auction every three years.” Venky Mysore told ESPNcricinfo.
Venky Mysore’s sensational allegation:
Speaking further on the same topic, Venky Mysore also made a sensational allegation. The KKR CEO said that the IPL had changed the retention rules in 2011 to benefit some teams. He revealed that there was supposed to be no retention that year, but the IPL eventually introduced it ‘because there were some key players that some franchises did not want to release.’
Ultimately, each franchise was allowed to retain four players ahead of the 2011 mega auction. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings benefited the most from the decision as both the teams retained four players each.
“After 18-19 years of the league, this shouldn’t be happening. I’m not a fan of the approach around equalizers and this surprise element and all that. Honestly, it doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t help the league, it doesn’t help the entire fan community.
“I mean that’s why the retention rule was created. In the first auction in 2011, which I participated in, there was supposed to be no retention, but it was introduced because there were some key players that some franchises did not want to release.
“The original plan was that every three years everyone goes to the auction. Not that I disagree with it, I agree with that retention principle, but the principle of it is really that you’re rewarding teams for having developed players, built that team, built that franchise, and engaged with the fan base and working through that.” He added.