Before the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made the audacious decision to cut Shreyas Iyer. Shreyas overcame all odds to help KKR win the championship earlier this year. At Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium, they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), captained by Pat Cummins, by eight wickets in the championship match. However, even though he was a vital member of the Men in Gold and Purple as a batter and captain, he was let go.

Instead, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, and Ramandeep Singh were the five players whom KKR wanted to keep. Following the release of Shreyas, the Knight Riders must choose a captain. The Knight Riders have the option of selecting Rinku Singh to captain them in the next competition. Since the 2018 title game, the left-handed hitter has been a member of the Knights. In the first two seasons, he did not have enough opportunities to play.