Last updated: April 21, 2025

‘Worst Auction Decision Ever’: KKR Fans Merciless After INR 23.75 Crore Recruit Venkatesh Iyer’s Painstakingly Slow 19-Ball 14 Against Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025

Venky fell prey to Sai Kishore in the 12th over.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vice captain Venkatesh Iyer had an extremely subpar outing tonight against the Gujarat Titans as the teams locked horns in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2025).

Chasing 199, KKR lost both their openers in the powerplay and needed a solid partnership in the middle. This was when Venkatesh Iyer stepped in but he failed to play through the gears with the pressure shifting on skipper Ajinkya Rahane.

Venky eventually departed after failing to make amends for his slow 19-ball-14, falling fell prey to Sai Kishore in the 12th over.

So far this season, Venkatesh hasn’t made much impact managing just 135 runs from 8 innings at a paltry average of 22 as compared to IPL 2024 where he had an average of 46.25. Barring a 60 against SRH, Iyer has failed to deliver and KKR fans have grow impatient.

Following the knock today, fans took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to vent their frustrations.

Check some of the reactions below.

Venkatesh Iyer bought for 23 crores is worst auction decision ever in ipl history @LalitKModi @bhogleharsha @cricbuzz @vikrantgupta73 @IrfanPathan @virendersehwag @cricketaakash
— dhaval909 (@dhaval909) April 21, 2025

How did this Venkatesh Iyer guy end up with a ₹24 Cr paycheck just to score 14 off 19 in a 200-run chase? I need answers.
— ᴇ.ꜱʏᴇᴅ💤 (@jazzZHere) April 21, 2025

Venkatesh Iyer if you have any shame then dare take even a single penny of the 23 cr.#KKRvsGT
— Saurav (@msaurav12) April 21, 2025

Time to release Venkatesh Iyer
— Debarghya C (@DebarghyaChak17) April 21, 2025

Venkatesh Iyer. A good e.g. of a franchise overvaluing one dimensional players. When they underperform, the team ends up lacking options as they are almost forced to play them (not that I concur with playing them because they have paid a lot for someone). #GTvsKKR #VenkateshIyer
— 2dollarsworth (@2dollarsworth) April 21, 2025

Venkatesh Iyer is bulshit I was surprised when #KKR picked him at 23cr he didn't even know how to hold a bat properly & How can such a ch*tiya player win u games??..🤡😶

This Fraud Venkatesh Iyer can’t even pick a ball that’s coming straight to him#KKRvsGT pic.twitter.com/GzQD2QRiZg
— Nasim Ahmad (@selfcare4_u) April 21, 2025

KKR 23Cr player Venkatesh Iyer playing impressive inning against Gujarat Gaints 😂😂
They put 23Cr in garbage 🥵#KKRvsGT #venkateshiyer pic.twitter.com/pOxZJpL8KS
— Yusuf Jamil (@YusufJamil01) April 21, 2025

Can you believe #KKR backed Venkatesh Iyer over #ShubmanGill and then over #ShreyasIyer few years down and went crazy for him in the auction that they forgot to bring #NitishRana and #philsalt back.#KKRvsGT
— Bhuvan Sood🇮🇳 (@bhu1go) April 21, 2025

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Venkatesh Iyer’s departure puts KKR in crisis

Speaking about the KKR vs GT match, the vistors posted a competitive score of 198 for 3 in 20 overs, courtesy of a superior batting performance from their top 3.

Shubman Gill (90 off 55), Sai Sudharshan (52 off 36) and Jos Buttler (41 off 23) all played stellar knocks.

Coming to the chase, KKR faltered early losing Rahmanullah Gurbaz cheaply for 1 in the first over. Fellow opener Sunil Narine could also make little difference, departing for 17 in the sixth over. The Ajinkya Rahane-led side needed a partnership but Venkatesh’s slow knock and subsequent dismissal tipped the odds against them with a mountain to climb and not much overs left.

At the time of writing this report, the KKR scoreboard reads 86 for 3 in 12 overs with Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh currently batting in the middle.

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