Venkatesh Iyer

The reason that brought about a change in Kolkata Knight Riders' fortune in IPL 2021 was nothing else, but Venkatesh Iyer's inclusion in the team. KKR had gotten off to a horrible start in IPL 2021 and were languishing at the bottom of the points table before the tournament was postponed due to COVID-19. The second half of the season was played in the UAE, and it was Venkatesh Iyer who changed KKR's fortune single-handedly. Playing his maiden IPL season, Venkatesh Iyer scored four half centuries as KKR bounced back emphatically from the bottom half of the table and made it to the final. Even in the final, Venkatesh Iyer played a superb knock, however, once the openers were dismissed, KKR collapsed and lost the game by 27 runs.

Due to his impressive performance in the UAE, Venkatesh Iyer was also picked by the Indian team. He was also retained in the mega auction ahead of Shubman Gill, but the all-rounder failed to make a mark at the highest level. Even in IPL 2022, Venkatesh Iyer failed to impress as his average dropped to 16.55. The only fifty Iyer scored was against Mumbai Indians, but the southpaw couldn't repeat his heroics on Indian grounds, like he had done in UAE. The 2023 IPL was slightly better for Venkatesh, as he scored 404 runs in the competition which included the first century by a KKR batter since Brendon McCullum’s 158. In 2024, he was in sublime form as KKR clinched the title once again. Given a free role to attack at number 3 and 4, Venkatesh scored for fun and ended the season with an average of 46.25.

While Iyer's IPL heroics are well documented, it was his innings of 198 against Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy that really pushed his case for a regular place in the Knight Riders's XI, having just been secured with a 20-lakh base price ahead of the 2021 auctions. The fact that the 20-lakh pay cheque got converted into a 23.75 crores cheque during the 2025 auctions is a telling tale of Vekatesh Iyer's improvements and importance for the Knight Riders's set-up.