New Delhi: There was a race between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore for Venkatesh Iyer in the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, KKR has bought Venkatesh Iyer for Rs 23 crore 75 lakh. Now looking at the season, it can be said that it was right that Venkatesh Iyer was not bought by RCB, because he was a complete flop this season, while RCB lifted the IPL trophy for the first time. However, RCB head coach Andy Flower believes something else. The RCB coach has told why he went so far for him in the auction?
Venkatesh Iyer scored only 142 runs in 11 matches for KKR this season. His average was very poor. Apart from Venkatesh Iyer, RCB bought Josh Hazlewood and Phil Salt at his price, both of whom remained match winners for the team till the end. Now RCB head coach Andy Flower has supported Venkatesh Iyer and said that if he had played for RCB, he would have performed well. Venkatesh was with KKR last season and played well, but this time his bat did not work.
Hyderabad got a better deal
At the price at which KKR bought Iyer, Delhi added two important players – Tristan Stubbs and Mukesh Kumar – to the team for the same amount. Both these players kept giving match-winning performances for Delhi Capitals throughout the season and played an important role in taking the team to the playoffs.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Andy Flower said, “We rate Venky (Venkatesh Iyer) very highly, that’s why we worked so hard for him. It was because we wanted to value a strong Indian core in our team. We wanted some exciting young cricketers and a left-hander in the top order. We didn’t get that. I think if he had played for us, he would have had a really great season.” The kind of performance Venkatesh Iyer has given, it seems that Kolkata Knight Riders will release him. Even if they buy him again at a lower price in the auction.
