Nitish Rana was a key player for Kolkata Knight Riders since 2018 and he even played a role in guiding them to the IPL title in 2024. However, ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, the batter was released by the franchise and he was eventually bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 4.2 Crore. Following the auction, Nitish’s wife – Saachi Marwah – took to social media to take a veiled dig at KKR for not retaining him ahead of the auction. She posted a picture along with the message – “Loyalty is very expensive, not everyone can afford it”. The post has gone viral and has resulted in a lot of chatter on social media.

Meanwhile, former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who is now the mentor of reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders, has defended the team’s strategy of “going all out” for Venkatesh Iyer to keep the “core” of the IPL championship-winning side intact.

Seen as a potential captaincy candidate for KKR, Venkatesh’s acquisition has sparked some criticism over why he wasn’t retained if leadership was part of the team think tank’s plan for him.

“Getting Venky (Venkatesh Iyer) was one of the main priorities for us, as you could see, we went all out for him,” said Bravo, a four-time IPL winner at Chennai Super Kings.

“It’s good that we have 90 per cent of the players from the championship-winning team. That in itself is a positive sign. It’s important to keep your core because when you have to build from scratch, it becomes complicated to make combinations and all.”

“We started planning while I was in Trinidad. We had come with a proper plan, the players we wanted to target,” added Bravo, who will be in charge of all the franchises of the Knight Riders label in T20 leagues.

At a staggering Rs 23.75 crore, the 29-year old Madhya Pradesh all-rounder, who has represented India in nine T20Is and two ODIs, emerged as the third most expensive player at the two-day IPL auction.