Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought Venkatesh Iyer for a whopping price of INR 23.75 crores. Iyer has been an integral part of the KKR setup since 2021.
KKR bought him for just 20 lacs back in 2021 and then got him back next year for a whopping INR 8 crores. Iyer played a key role in KKR’s title triumph in IPL 2024. He scored 370 runs in 13 innings at an average of 46.20 at a strike rate of 158.80 including 4 fifties.
Iyer scored a fifty each in the Qualifier and then in the finals of IPL 2024. With Shreyas Iyer already out from KKR, the franchise was very keen on securing Venkatesh Iyer and they were successful in doing so.
KKR CEO Venky Mysore mentioned that KKR wanted to keep their core from IPL 2024. They retained some of their big names and bought back players like Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Vaibhav Arora in the mega auction.
“I will be very sad if you don’t pick me”: Venkatesh Iyer to KKR CEO
Talking to ESPNcricinfo, KKR CEO also mentioned that the left-hand batter had a chat with them ahead of the auction. He told them that he’d be very sad if they didn’t pick him in the auction.
Mysore mentioned, “For us, it was about trying to keep our core. We’ve kept six players and brought 2 – 3 players back from last year. that was always the kind of thinking and as far as he (Venkatesh) is concerned we definitely didn’t want to find· ourselves in a situation where we may not be able to bring him back”.
KKR had an intense bidding war for Iyer and they eventually ended up buying for INR 23.75 crores.
KKR CEO further added, “But it always balances itself. When you look at Quinton de Kock (INR 3.60 crore) and Nortje (INR 6.50 crore) that we’ve picked, it balances off in many ways. On an overall basis, it all works out”.
“They’ve proven on the field· what they can do. You saw in a championship year, and one year we went to the final as well, in 2021. He (Venkatesh) was highly instrumental and a terrific guy in the team. He had clearly given us an ultimatum that, ‘If you don’t pick me, I will be very sad’. So we didn’t want him to be sad, and we’re also very happy”, he concluded.
