'Karma is real yaar' - Aakash Chopra accuses Shreyas Iyer of lying about KKR retention

The mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 saw Shreyas Iyer sell for a whopping INR 26.75 crore to Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the eighteenth edition. Punjab, who went into the auction with the highest purse among all teams, splurged heavily on quality players. More recently, Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a title in the previous edition, was also announced as Punjab's captain for the impending season.

For the unversed, Iyer wasn't retained by KKR despite lifting the trophy for them as captain, and as a result, he received a massive price at the auction table. The cricketer opened up on the retention talks with the franchise ahead of the auction, and sparked controversies by saying that there was concrete effort made by the side to have him sustained with the Knight Riders' setup.

"We had a conversation straight after the IPL championship. But for a few months, there was a layover and no concrete effort in having a retention talk. I was perplexed about what’s happening. So, because of a lack of communication, we came to a situation where we parted ways, mutually. And that’s the long and short of it," Iyer told The Indian Express in an interview.

Reacting to this, former KKR cricketer Aakash Chopra revealed that the long talks must have taken place, and also labelled remarks of Iyer as falsified statements.

“Shreyas Iyer's statement is interesting, that no one spoke to him. He said KKR didn't even speak to him. I can confirm the conversation happened, it was lengthy and happened many times. You couldn't reach an agreement there. That's a separate issue,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel

“This is a franchise that invests in relationships, I am not going to spell it out, but Shreyas had some apprehensions about how things would unfold in the auction, Karma is real yaar!” Chopra added. 

Also Read: It’s irritating when people who haven’t faced 150 kmph delivery advising you: Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer falls cheaply in Ranji

Speaking of the Mumbai-born's on-field performances, Iyer is currently playing the Round 6 game of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25. Batting at no. 5, Iyer departed after scoring just 11 runs from seven balls, which included a boundary and a six. The ace batter's dismal outing in the first innings isn't something he would like to replicate in the inning that follows.

Iyer is also a part of India's squad for the three ODIs against England followed by the Champions Trophy, and almost confirmed as a No. 4 batter, he would want to find some rhythm ahead of the important assignments.