Venky Mysore, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ all-powerful chief executive, would have retained Venkatesh Iyer among the six players had the circumstances favoured his inclusion.

When it came to the mega auction, he was out to buy back the left-hander at the first opportunity. It meant splurging ₹23.75 crore out of their remaining purse of ₹51 crore but Mysore wouldn’t budge.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru too were keen on Venkatesh but KKR were ready to break the bank for him.

As a principle, the franchise always favours retaining the core group and principal owner Shah Rukh Khan had spoken against the mega auction, which is held every three years, during a meeting in July at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.

KKR even tried to win back Shreyas Iyer once the bidding started. But once his price crossed the ₹10 crore mark, they withdrew from the race.

KKR perhaps had set out with a strategy: Release Shreyas into the auction pool and then re-acquire him at a lower price. It is a ploy most franchises prefer to free up the funds but it didn’t work out this time. Punjab Kings played party poopers.

Shreyas’ presence would have ended their search for a captain but the ₹26.75 crore seemed far beyond their reach. The franchise also tried to rope in KL Rahul as a potential captain but the bidding rate crossed their limits.

They regained Rahmanullah Gurbaz though. The Afghan can open the innings along with Quinton de Kock, who was won at a fairly cheap valuation — ₹3.6 crore. Young Angkrish Raghuvanshi will also continue with the team for another three-year term.

KKR also needed to explore a fast bowler to partner Harshit Rana. They did bid for Mitchell Starc and Mohammed Shami but gave it up and ultimately settled on South African Anrich Nortje for ₹6.5 crore.

With only ₹10.05 crore left in their purse, KKR have to find suitable replacements in their middle order. While De Kock can be a substitute for Phil Salt, they still need a batter to fill in the middle order. Like most other franchises, they will go back to the drawing board to reassess plans ahead of the final day.

For the most part of the first half on Sunday, KKR seemed restrained. Having lost out on most of the big names in the two sets of marquee players, they went all out for Venkatesh.

It did take most by surprise. Former KKR captain Eoin Morgan termed the
bid as a “desperate” one and felt the cricketer was being “overpaid”.

KKR first faced stiff competition from Lucknow Super Giants. Just when they thought they had clinched it at ₹7.75 crore, RCB ruined the party, pushing KKR to their limits. He was the fourth-most expensive player at an auction and third-most at this mega auction in Jeddah.

“Auctions are this way only,” Mysore said about Venkatesh. “At the end of the day it’s about the player you want and the type of player you want in the set-up... For us it was about trying to keep our core. We’ve kept six players and brought 2-3 players back from last year.”

The leadership conundrum too will continue to haunt them unless KKR find a suitable option on Monday. Gautam Gambhir’s absence will be felt in the dugout but they will need a captain with tactical acumen to initiate strategic manoeuvring
on the field.

Will they trust a young Rinku Singh as captain or keep faith in Sunil Narine who has led their franchise in ILT20 and MLC or spring a surprise by trusting Venkatesh’s leadership instincts?

The answer may not be readily available after the auction.