In the IPL 2025 auction, Venkatesh Iyer struck gold when he was bought for Rs. 23.75 crore was returned to Kolkata Knight Riders following a bidding battle with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Venkatesh has been with KKR since he first played in the IPL 2021 season and was kept on for the 2022 auction.
KKR first purchased Venkatesh for 20 lakhs, then decided to keep him before the 2022 auction for 8 crores. Venkatesh, who has played in 50 games for the 3-time champions, has accumulated 1326 runs along with one century and 11 half-centuries.
The bidding for Venkatesh Iyer began with KKR being the first to place a bid for him. LSG wasted no time in showing interest in the all-rounder and raised the bid to 7.75 crores. This is when RCB joined the competition for the all-rounder.
Also read: Shreyas Iyer becomes most expensive player in IPL history
The outcome was a remarkable auction for Venkatesh’s services as he rapidly became a sought-after player. Both teams kept competing to acquire the versatile player, who soon surpassed the 20 crore mark.
At this point, the bidding began to decrease, but both teams appeared adamant about hiring Venkatesh. In the end, RCB decided to relent, making Venkatesh the third-highest priced player in this year’s auction after Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer who were bought by LSG and PBKS.
“This is a family. There’s so much emotion. It kind of makes me teary-eyed that my name is not on the retention list but I am a practical guy. I understand how it works. I was on the receiving end of being one of the retentions in 2022 and I knew how it feels to be retained and to be left out as well. So, I think KKR have had a great retention, really happy for that. I would love to be there and the doors are open. If I have a good auction then I might still end up playing for the team I love the most,” said Venkatesh.
