In the mega auction of IPL 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders bought Venkatesh Iyer with a bid of Rs 23.75 crore. With this amount, he became one of the most expensive players in IPL 2025. Only time will tell how much Venkatesh Iyer compensates this amount on the IPL field. But the effect of the money he received in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy is beginning to be seen. Ever since KKR spent Rs 23.75 crore on Venkatesh Iyer, he has not been getting out much against the bowlers.
Unbeaten in 3 out of 5 innings after IPL auction
After getting an amount of Rs 23.75 crore in the mega auction of IPL 2025, Venkatesh Iyer has played 5 innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, out of which he has remained unbeaten in 3. Meaning, they have had the upper hand over the bowlers by 4-1. Not only this, apart from scoring runs with the bat, he has also taken wickets in those 5 matches. Venkatesh Iyer had put his name in the all-rounder category in the IPL auction.
Performance in 5 matches played so far after the auction
Venkatesh Iyer played his first match after the IPL auction on 25 November against Meghalaya, in which this all-rounder from Madhya Pradesh took 1 wicket apart from scoring unbeaten 37 runs.
After this, he played the second match after the auction on 27 November against Punjab, where he remained unbeaten after scoring 22 runs. Whereas he did not take any wicket while giving 12 runs with the ball.
On 29 November, Venkatesh Iyer played the third match against Bengal. And, here also he remained unbeaten after scoring 12 runs. Iyer could not take a wicket in this match also.
Venkatesh Iyer played the fourth match against Rajasthan, in which the Madhya Pradesh all-rounder lost his wicket for 16 runs. This match was played on 1 December, in which Venkatesh did not bowl.
Venkatesh Iyer played the fifth and last match after the auction on 3 December against Hyderabad, in which he scored runs at a strike rate of 183.33.
The batsman with the highest strike rate in MP!
Venkatesh Iyer’s overall strike rate in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy is 175.71, which is the highest compared to any other batsman from Madhya Pradesh.