Replaying 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders' Third IPL Title And A Historic Mega Auction

The year 2024 was one to remember for Kolkata Knight Riders as they clinched their third Indian Premier League title and first in the last 10 years. KKR won IPL trophies back in 2012 and 2014 but what followed was a long drought for the side. During this period, the closest KKR came to the coveted title was in 2021, when they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the final in Dubai. 2024 was a different story. The Shreyas Iyer-led KKR registered a one-sided victory over SunRisers Hyderabad in the summit clash to claim its third title.

The dominance of KKR throughout the tournament was simply amazing as the side thrashed finalists SRH thrice in the tournament. First in the league stage, then in the Qualifier 1 and finally in the final. KKR won the final by 8 wickets and 57 balls to spare and Qualifier 1 by 8 wickets and 38 balls to spare.

Fast forward to October 31 and Shreyas Iyer, KKR's title-winning captain, could not find a place for himself in the team as he was not retained by the franchise. Interestingly, IPL 2024 was the best season for Iyer in terms of average and strike rate. He played 14 matches and scored 351 runs at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 146.86.

Three-time champions KKR retained six players. Rinku Singh was the first-choice for KKR at a price of Rs 13 crore, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell all three were paid Rs 12 crore each, while Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh got Rs 4 crore apiece.

Destiny had better plans for Shreyas Iyer and the batter soon found it out at the IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The franchises broke banks while bidding for Iyer. For a brief duration, he even went on to become the costliest player in IPL history. Punjab Kings bought the batter for a