IPL-winning skipper Shreyas Iyer's omission from Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) retention list came as a major surprise for the cricket fans and experts alike.

The defending champions announced Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh as their retentions on Thursday (October 31).

Amid the recent development, KKR CEO Venky Mysore has claimed that Shreyas chosen to enter the auction instead of being retained by the franchise.

Now, a report published in PTI suggests that Delhi Capitals (DC) co-owners GMR Group are interested in bringing the middle-order batter back to the team, and have even promised him leadership role.

Iyer previously led DC between 2018 and 2020, where the franchise won 21 of the 41 games, which also included a run to the final in 2020.

The Capitals have retained India all-rounder Axar Patel, star spinner Kuldeep Yadav, South Africa all-rounder Tristan Stubbs and uncapped Indian wicket-keeper batter Abhishek Porel ahead of the mega auction.

With these retentions, DC subtracted a total of INR 47 crore from their overall purse of INR 120 crore. They will have a total purse kitty of INR 73 crore and two RTM card options at the upcoming mega auction.

"There won't be too many teams that would want Iyer the T20 batter but just to ensure DC spends a bomb on a player, they might engage in a bidding war for Iyer," an IPL franchise official told PTI.

The report further stated that KL Rahul could be considered by his former franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), even as a potential captaincy option.

On the other hand, Punjab Kings might retain Arshdeep Singh using the Right to Match (RTM) card if his worth stays below INR 20 crore. Wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan, who has been released by Mumbai Indians, is reportedly in Lucknow Super Giants' contention as they are searching for Rahul’s replacement.

(With PTI Inputs)