Venkatesh Iyer led the Kolkata Knight Riders to a solid 80-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL 2025 match at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The player, who was bought for INR 23.75 crore, showed he’s worth his spot on the team by hitting a quick 60 off 29 balls. After the game, he said, “Once the IPL kicks off, it doesn’t matter if you’re earning 20 lakhs or 20 crores. Your price tag doesn’t dictate how you play. There are big expectations, and I just want to help the team succeed.”
He particularly took it to SRH captain Pat Cummins in the 19th over, as KKR piled on 78 runs in the last five overs, marking their first time going over 200 runs this season. Talking about his innings, Venkatesh said Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi were key in figuring out the pitch during their partnership, and they shared what they learned with the rest of the batters.
“The ball was sticking a bit and turning. So, it was crucial for Rinku Singh and me not to waste balls while figuring out the pitch. I knew we could take our time because we had power hitters like Rinku and Andre Russell coming up next. I could afford to spend a few balls early on,” he explained.
He added that their aggressive approach at the end actually started well before that. “It’s tough for a new batter to just step in and start hitting. Even Ramandeep or Russell would need time to get a feel for things. Luckily, Rinku and I had that, and then it opened up for us,” he said.
After the 17th over, they felt they could go for it since they had already spent enough time at the crease. “We needed to score runs with three more batters to come, but having those early balls helped us execute our plans well,” he explained.
When asked about the team’s aggressive style in challenging conditions, he remarked, “Aggression means showing intent and being positive but also being smart about it.”
On the bowling side, Vaibhav Arora got KKR off to a great start by taking out Travis Head and Ishan Kishan in quick succession, while Harshit Rana dismissed Abhishek Sharma. This left SRH struggling at 9/3 within just over two overs. They struggled to recover from that as spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy kept the pressure on.
Venkatesh praised his bowlers for executing their plans perfectly. “We knew that an aggressive team carries the risk of losing wickets, and we aimed to take advantage of that,” he said.
SRH’s pace bowling coach James Franklin agreed that 200 runs was a reachable target. “In the end, they scored quite freely. At half-time, we felt we were still in the game. But losing those three wickets right away in the power play hurt us,” he mentioned. He added that they don’t want to dampen the aggressive style of their top order, which has delivered thrilling performances in the past, even if it hasn’t clicked in the last couple of matches.