Indore Pink Panthers have managed to score 164/8 while chasing 208
Venkatesh Iyer has had a torrid 2025 so far. The Madhya Pradesh all-rounder was on a roll last year playing a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders winning their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2024.
As a result, he was the third costliest player in the IPL 2025 auction as KKR shelled out a whopping INR 23.75 crore to keep his services. However, that tag felt heavy as the season progressed.
Venkatesh registered scores of 6,3, 60, 45, 7, 14 and 7 throughout the season as KKR ran out of steam through a season which was rocky. His influence over controlling match situations and finishing games also waned as the defending champions crashed out of the playoffs race with three matches left in their league stage.
Being given KKR’s vice-captaincy and reaching the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 final with Madhya Pradesh were the only highlights of his season.
His terrible run continued from IPL 2025 to the MP T20 League 2025 as he scored 16 off 15 balls as Indore Pink Panthers’ skipper in their opening match against Jabalpur Royal Lions.
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However, Indore were rescued by Akshat Raghuwanshi’s superb 76 off 46 balls and Akhil Nigote’s unbeaten 22 off 14 balls as they posted 183/7 in 20 overs and won the match by six runs. With the ball however, Venkatesh contributed 2-38 from his four overs including the key wicket of Rahul Batham (58).
In Indore’s second match against Chambal Ghariyals, Venkatesh was dismissed for a run-a-ball 10 while chasing a big target of 208. With the ball, he bowled just one over and conceded 13 runs. None of the Indore batters scored runs quickly as they were restricted to 164/8 in 20 overs and lost by 43 runs.
In the second match of Sunday, Bhopal Leopards crushed Bundelkhand Bulls by a massive margin of 98 runs in Gwalior.
Batting first, Bhopal were powered by opener Shivang Kumar’s 91 off 42 balls and Yash Dubey’s 47 off 37 balls as they posted 228/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, Bundelkhand were skittled out for 130 in 16.3 overs as the spin trio of Himashu Shinde, Goutam Raghuwanshi and Aayush Mankar claimed two wickets each.
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