Expectations have weighed heavily on the shoulders of all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. Venkatesh was supposed to spearhead the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) attack with the bat in IPL 2022 as one of the pre-auction retentions, but his form has been considerably different from last year.
Due to his poor form, Iyer has been in and out of the team. Pat Cummins, an Australian pace bowler, has had a similar problem with consistency.
However, he played a brilliant knock of 43, giving KKR a flying start in their last match against MI at the DY Patil Stadium, and helping them win the match by 52 runs in the end.
In a chat with teammate Pat Cummins after the match, Venkatesh stated that things haven't been falling into place for him this season. Instead of stressing the end result, the all-rounder is concentrating on the procedure that must be followed.
"Just wanted to go out there and enjoy. It has been a tough period for me, but I have been focusing on my process rather than the result. I cannot control what happens out there, the number of balls and the number of wickets, I can only control my process, and that is what I have been doing. Feels happy to contribute to a team victory," Iyer said in a video posted by IPL on their Twitter.
On the other hand, Pat Cummins' stats of 3 for 22 against Mumbai were one of the reasons why KKR was able to bowl out MI for 113 runs inside 18 overs.
On the occasion of his 29th birthday, the Australian claimed his outstanding performance was a gift to himself.
"Yeah, this was sort of a birthday gift I gave to myself. It's good to get a win. Had not played the last couple of matches, so good to be back in the side and take a couple of wickets. It's a great feeling. Pretty fired up after the last game when we missed out on the chance for the finals, so good to get a win tonight," said Cummins during the chat.
The victory has kept the Knight Riders in playoff contention. They must win their final two league stage games to keep their prospects of qualifying for the knockout stages alive. If KKR is to advance to the next round, a couple of other results must also go in their favor.
(With TimesNow inputs)
