Venkatesh Iyer struck gold in the IPL 2025 auction when he was purchased 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 his first appearance in the IPL 2021 season and was kept in the team before the 2022 auction.
KKR purchased Venkatesh for 20 lakhs initially and decided to keep him ahead of the 2022 auction for 8 crores. Venkatesh has scored 1326 runs and registered one century and 11 half-centuries in his 50 appearances for the 3-time champions.
The bidding for Venkatesh Iyer began when KKR initiated the bidding for him themselves. LSG wasted no time in making an offer for the versatile player 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 result was an amazing competition for Venkatesh’s services as he rapidly became a sought-after player. Both teams kept striving to acquire the versatile player and he soon exceeded the 20 crore milestone.
Bidding began to decelerate, yet both teams appeared steadfast in their pursuit of securing Venkatesh’s services. Finally, RCB decided to relent and abandoned their chase, making Venkatesh the third most expensive player in this year’s auction after Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer who were bought by LSG and PBKS.
