The allrounder also took a dig at the franchise's former captain
Kolkata Knight Riders have had many loyal players over the years. The likes of Jacques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell have all associated their names with the three-time champions by staying through highs and lows for the franchise.
Punjab allrounder Ramandeep Singh also wants to make a name for himself in Indian Premier League (IPL) and make his way to the national team by remaining loyal to KKR, unlike few players who are swayed away by the big sums of money.
Ramandeep Singh Loyal To IPL Holders KKR
Ramandeep, who played the last two seasons for KKR after a season with Mumbai Indians, took a thinly-veiled dig at his former IPL captain Shreyas Iyer who left the franchise ahead of IPL 2025 and was bought by Punjab Kings for a huge sum of INR 26.75 crore.
IPL franchise offered Ramandeep Singh 10 crore to come in auction but he didn't leave KKR and decided to stay at KKR for just 4 crore 🙌
Ramandeep revealed that other franchises had offered him money up to INR 10 crore after he won the IPL 2024 with KKR, but unlike some other players, the 27-year-old decided to stay with KKR.
“The franchises had informed me that they will go till INR 10 Cr for me. But I just wanted to play for them (KKR). I feel that IPL is such a platform where opportunities are very important. So, you need to give loyalty to a franchise if it is backing you. Money doesn’t matter that much,” Ramandeep said on ‘Raj Shamani’ podcast channel on YouTube.
Ramandeep was retained by the IPL holders for INR 4 crore ahead of the auction in November.
“Obviously, there are some players for whom money matters. But you’ve also played for INR 20 lakh for a team and if you’re leaving a team for some money, it will show your character to them. I didn’t have the vision to earn money. I just wanted to represent India and win a World Cup,” Ramandeep added, without naming anyone.
Shreyas Iyer’s Exit Saga Before IPL 2025
Shreyas had put down his exit from KKR due to ‘lack of communication’ with the franchise a week before the retention announcement. However, KKR CEO Venky Mysore countered the claim saying that they had Shreyas’ name at the top of their retention list and had several meetings but couldn’t agree on a desirable contract.
“Somewhere along the line, that agreement doesn’t happen because of various factors – money or someone wants to taste their value or whatever it is. He was number one on our list. He was the captain, so have to build everything around the leadership,” Venky Mysore had said on the matter in an interview with Revsportz.
KKR, who have picked Ajinkya Rahane as their captain, had a humdinger in their IPL 2025 opener as they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets.
