Venkatesh Iyer played a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2025 encounter at Eden Gardens. His well-paced innings of 60 off just 29 balls and a stunning 91-run partnership with Rinku Singh led KKR to post an imposing total of 200 for 6.
This win marks a continuation of KKR’s dominance over SRH, reminiscent of their triumph in the IPL 2024 final where KKR secured the title. Despite setting a significant target, the Knight Riders knew that their bowling would be key, and they delivered, restricting SRH effectively.
Venkatesh Iyer emphasized the importance of understanding pitch conditions rather than aggressive hitting from the outset. His innings was in stark contrast to SRH’s aggressive yet inconsistent batting approach that has seen them lose three consecutive matches after ambitious declarations aiming at 300-plus totals.
Addressing reporters post-match, Venkatesh Iyer subtly criticized the overly aggressive mindset often adopted by SRH and emphasized multiple times by skipper Pat Cummins, stating clearly, “Aggression does not mean tonking every ball for sixes. It’s about how you understand the conditions, how you are able to maximize the conditions in your favour. And that is what aggression actually is.”
In a recent viral video, Pat Cummins, after SRH’s defeat to Delhi Capitals, was heard telling his teammates to not regress in their approach and “double down” on going big. “I think a few teams, when they go to a new venue, they think, let’s play it safe , let’s get 160-170. That’s not our team okay?,” Cummins stated in the video. “Aniket had a good night tonight, we get a score, one person joins in, and we get a score of 200+ and we probably win that game. In some ways, we have been unlucky in the last two innings, if there are challenges, keep doubling down. We got 280 in the first innings (vs RR), that’s the kind of team that we want to be. Don’t overthink this one too much.”
However, a third loss in a row after not playing to the conditions has put SRH’s approach under intense scrutiny.
Venkatesh Iyer spoke of the conditions and the need to bat accordingly: “It’s not an easy pitch to just go out there and hit. Ball was sticking a little, it was turning. It was important for us to take time to understand what the pitch has to offer.”
Iyer noted that KKR’s approach allowed him and his teammates to accelerate effectively after the 15th over. At that stage, the calculated aggression of KKR contrasted significantly with SRH’s recent batting collapses.
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Iyer’s strategy was evident in his remarks, stating, “We don’t want to be the team that scores 250 when we’re playing well and when we’re not, we get out for 70. We want to be a team who understands the pitch and the conditions quickly. To assess the par score and try to make 20 runs above par.”
The vice-captain also praised bowler Vaibhav Arora, whose new-ball spell was instrumental in shifting momentum towards KKR. The balanced strategy combining thoughtful batting and aggressive bowling paid off, highlighting KKR’s strength as a cohesive unit.
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