Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore has once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the IPL mega auction. As the franchise prepares for the much-awaited mini-auction this month, Venky Mysore has made it clear that he is not a big fan of the big auctions.

The big auction happens every three years, giving teams a chance to completely revamp their roster. However, it also breaks continuity. The squad that had been formed over the years was disbanded overnight. The process that allows teams to overhaul their squad also forces them to break out of established combinations.

KKR bears the brunt of the mega auction in IPL 2025. Their title-winning squad was dismantled in 2025, losing several key players including captain Shreyas Iyer. As a result, KKR not only failed to defend the title, but also failed to qualify for the playoffs.

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As KKR looks to rebuild a strong franchise, Venky Mysore says mega auctions are like punishment for the franchise. He said the franchise worked “very, very hard” to build the team, but their efforts were undone by the big auction.

“We had made our position very, very clear last year when our teams had a big discussion with the IPL about retention and various other important topics. We said you can’t punish teams that have worked very, very hard to build teams to identify talent, develop them and be successful. And suddenly you say this is it, let’s have a big auction every three years,” Venky Mysuru told ESPNcricinfo.

Venky Mysore’s Sensational Allegations:

Speaking further on the same topic, Venky Mysore also made a sensational allegation. The KKR CEO said that the IPL changed the reservation rules in 2011 to favor certain teams. He revealed that there wasn’t supposed to be any reservation back then but IPL ended up introducing it “because certain teams didn’t want to release some key players.”

Ultimately, each team was allowed to retain four players ahead of the 2011 big auction. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were the biggest beneficiaries of this decision, with both teams retaining four players each.

“After what the league has been through for 18-19 years, this shouldn’t happen. I don’t like the idea of ​​balance and this element of surprise and all that. It doesn’t make any sense, to be honest. It doesn’t help the league, it doesn’t help the fan base as a whole.

“I mean, that’s why the retention rule was created. In the first auction I attended, in 2011, there wasn’t supposed to be any retention, but it was introduced because there were some key players that certain franchises didn’t want to release.

“The original plan was for everyone to participate in an auction every three years. It’s not that I disagree with that, I agree with the retention principle, but the principle of it is really that you reward the teams that develop players, build the team, build the team, connect with the fan base and work through it,” he added.