He averaged a mere 20.28 in IPL 2025.
During the IPL 2025 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought Venkatesh Iyer for a whopping INR 23.75 crore after an intense bidding with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He had done well for them before and went all-out to get him, showing immense faith in his capabilities.
Unfortunately, Iyer couldn’t justify his price tag, as has happened often with several big-budget players before, and questions regarding his acquisition, especially at that sum, naturally arose. One key reason attributed to his failures was the constant shuffle to his batting position, as KKR tried using him as a floater and failed in the experiment.
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In an exclusive podcast with CricXtasy, Venkatesh Iyer denied it as a reason behind a mediocre IPL 2025, claiming he has built himself to adapt to various batting positions. He added that doing different roles as a batter helps him improve overall and become a better cricketer.
“I don’t think so (on whether changes in batting position impacted his form). The moment you sign up to be a professional cricketer, you have to be flexible. I have always maintained that I want to be flexible. If the middle order slot is vacant in the team, it’s my duty to be prepared for that role. Even last year, I played as a floater, and I enjoyed that. If you are getting to face different positions and challenges, what that will do is make you better.”
During IPL 2025, Venkatesh Iyer scored 142 runs at an average of 20.28 and a 139.28 strike rate in seven innings, including a fifty. He batted thrice at No.4 and four times at No.5, where he has found some success in the past but is not naturally suited to, even if he claims to be a floater.
Iyer has historically performed best when batting in the top order, or No.3 to be precise, in IPL. In the top three, the southpaw has 1118 runs at an average of 33.87 and a strike rate of 141.87 in 37 innings, comprising 10 fifties and a century.
Meanwhile, outside the top three, the average falls to 21.87 and the strike rate shrinks to 124.55 across 19 outings. A major issue for his failure last season was his inability against spinners, against whom Iyer struck at a mere 125.45 and lost his wickets four times in six attempts.
To succeed in the middle order, he must improve his spin game significantly, as the competition has several quality spinners in every team. That said, KKR should still try reverting him to the top order to maximise his impact, and they have several ways to do so.
KKR will have the temptation to release Venkatesh Iyer because he costs a big sum and hasn’t really flourished in the role they expected in the recent couple of seasons. They have other slots to fill and need a reasonable budget in the auction.
However, his retention wouldn’t surprise, given how much management trusts him, and he really had a tough season that doesn’t reflect his true quality. If they retain him, Iyer must bat in the top order, which is only possible if they stop opening with Sunil Narine or release Ajinkya Rahane.
Rahane is another batter who can’t go too low in the order, and in fact, he is less flexible than Venkatesh. So, at this stage, KKR constitute multiple top-order options, and the key will be to find suitable ones.
Ideally, the Knight Riders should keep Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Venkatesh Iyer while releasing the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, who clearly doesn’t fit in the team. They will be in a conundrum whether to retain Venkatesh or let him go, and a final decision will be based on other retentions and releases.
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