Courtesy: IPL/X
On November 24, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) signed Venkatesh Iyer for a whopping INR 23.75 Crore contract in the IPL 2025 mega auction at the Abady Al Johar Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 29-year-old, who was a key part of KKR’s title-winning campaign earlier this year, didn’t got retained by the franchise ahead of the auction, but after an intense bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), they eventually got him on board as the fourth highest paid player in the history of the tournament.
In the 2024 season of the IPL, Venkatesh Iyer had a very good season with the bat at the top of the order, scoring 370 runs in 15 matches at an average of 46.25 and a strike-rate of 158.79. The left-handed batter, who made his debut with KKR in the IPL in 2021, has grown by leaps and bounds as a player over the last few years, which helped him earn the coveted India jersey in the limited overs cricket.
During his career in the IPL thus far, Venkatesh Iyer has scored 1326 runs in 51 matches for KKR at an average of 31.57 and a strike-rate of 137.12 with one hundred and 11 fifties. With his current valuation being quite high in the IPL 2025 mega auction, there will be some pressure on him to deliver consistent results with the bat in KKR colours, which won’t be an easy proposition for him despite his recent performances in the league.
Here are some of the fan reactions on X after Kolkata Knight Riders buy Venkatesh Iyer for INR 23.75 Crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction:
