Kolkata: Along with the youngest millionaire, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and the most expensive player, Rishabh Pant, Venkatesh Iyer has joined the ranks of the rich IPL 2025 players. Signing left-handed all-rounder for ₹23.75 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have shown their faith in him. Iyer can now confirm the costly purchase and has already displayed some hints of his ability during practice games.
Starting on March 22, KKR’s first game versus Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take place at home. KKR practiced its preparations by holding intrasquad games before facing this challenge. Having been appointed KKR’s vice captain for IPL 2025, Venkatesh Iyer has shown extraordinary performances in both practice matches thus far..
Iyer retired out from the first practice match with an amazing 61 runs off just 26 balls. Then he carried on in the second game with a blistering 46 runs off 21 balls. Playing both matches, Iyer accumulated 47 balls overall and scored 107 runs. He is obviously not only defending the faith he has been given by the KKR management but also eager to make good on the ₹23.75 crore investment.
Iyer is definitely going to be a big benefit for Kolkata Knight Riders if he continues to play as he did in the practice matches for the official IPL games.
Last season, KKR had already shown Venkatesh Iyer faith; his performance at that period was well noted. Last season, he posted his best strike rate—158.79 in IPL. Given a more expensive tag this season, expectations will most definitely be much greater. After the outstanding teaser he gave in practice matches, it remains to be seen how Iyer’s batting ability will be reflected on the IPL 2025 platform.