The Kolkata Knight Riders spent INR 23.75 crore in the mega auction to re-sign Venkatesh Iyer, whom they had released after winning the IPL the previous year. It was the third-highest price tag, after Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (INR 26.75 crore).
Barring a dismal season in 2022, the left-hander has scored more than 350 runs in each of the previous years. However, due to his high price, the attention has never been as focused on him as it is this year.
KKR had used their whole retention quota by keeping back Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh, but Iyer's auction loomed over them all.
However, their priciest player Venkatesh Iyer had only scored 9 runs in first two games and questions were raised over his form. But Iyer did not bother. In his mind, he knew exactly what his duty was. Just because he is KKR's highest-paid cricketer does not imply he is under pressure to score in every game.
"Once IPL starts, it doesn't matter whether you were sold for ₹20 lakh or 20 crore. The money doesn't define how you will play cricket," Iyer said in the post-match press conference after KKR’s win over SRH.
He responded to his critics with a scorching 60 off 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, helping his team return to winning ways in the IPL’s 18th season.
"We have a youngster called Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who is doing really well. I know that the question of high payment and expectations will come up a lot, but I am a player who wants to contribute to the team's success. There will be tricky situations when my team would require me to play out a few balls. If I can do that even after not scoring that many runs, I have done the job for my team.
It doesn't mean that I'm the highest-paid cricketer, and I will have to score in every match. It's about the impact. Yes, there is some pressure, I won't lie. The pressure is not about money, it is about how can contribute to the team's success," he added.
Iyer hit two sixes and six fours in his last 12 balls in a dazzling display of hitting in the death overs. Iyer stated that it was difficult to start striking right away. Even he and Rinku Singh (32* off 17) needed to take several balls to get a sense of the pitch.
"I don't look at who is bowling. The focus is always on what is being bowled, looking at the field placement. The main communication came from Ajinkya and Angkrish when they were batting in the middle. They said it's not an easy pitch to bat. The ball was sticking. It was turning. So it was important for us not to chew up balls but at the same time understand what the pitch has to offer. We have that luxury because we have Rinku, Russell and Ramandeep in the backend. We have an engine room that can demolish any bowling attack," he said.
Iyer said it would be nice to get home advantage, but he is not a big fan of directing the curators.
"Now that we have won, so yeah (we can call it a good pitch). It was a competitive pitch. To be honest, we bowled really well. We put up a par score at Eden. We used the conditions well. See, I never believe that the pitch should be in a certain way. We are professional cricketers, we should be able to adjust to whatever is on offer but yes, if we get what we want at our home, it would be great,” he added.
After posting 200/6, KKR bowled out SRH for 120 in 16.4 overs to win the match by 80 runs.
“Aggression is all about showing positive but correct intent. If we are 15/6, I still go and tonk everything, which is positive but not correct. So if we have to call ourselves a champion team and smart cricketers, we have to read the situation and then react to it aggressively. Aggression does not mean you tonk every ball for six. It's about understanding the situation and maximising it in your favour. We don't want to be that team who hits 250 and then gets out for 70," Iyer added.
KKR will next face LSG at Eden Gardens on April 8th.
(PTI inputs)
