Credits: IPL/X
Venkatesh Iyer reacted to his release from the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2025 mega-auction. The cricketer has been with the franchise right from his debut in the cash-rich league in 2021. Notably, the reigning champions decided to retain names like Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Ran and Ramandeep Singh. The franchise decided to let go of many including the likes of stars like Mitchell Starc, Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer.
The cricketer who has played several key roles and guided the side to many triumphs in the past opened up on his snub. In his first year, Iyer had a fantastic season with the bat as he helped the side reach the final. He came into the team as an opener from the middle of the season and scored 370 runs in 10 matches with an average of 41.11 and a strike rate of 128.47. While he couldn’t do much in 2022, Iyer scored 400+ runs in 2023. Not only this, but he came up with 370 runs in 14 matches with an average of 46.25 and a strike rate of 158.80. In the finale, he came up with crucial 52 off 26 balls to guide the side to a win.
I have given everything for KKR: ‘Teary Eyed’ Venkatesh Iyer
The cricketer reacted to his release and said that it got him very emotional considering he has given everything to the team. An emotional Iyer told RevSportz, "KKR have given me a big breakthrough and I have given everything for KKR and beyond cricket, there’s something called emotion. This is a family. There’s so much emotion. It kind of makes me teary-eyed that my name is not on the retention list but I am a practical guy. I understand how it works.”
He added, "I was on the receiving end of on being one of the retentions in 2022 and I knew how it feels to be retained and to be left out as well. So, I think KKR have had a great retention, really happy for that. I would love to be there and the doors are open. If I have a good auction then I might still end up playing for the team I love the most.”
