IPL 2025: Venkatesh Iyer, KKR’s most expensive signing, aims for max impact

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer underlined after his match-winning knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad that his Rs 23.75 crore price tag doesn’t mean he has to score heavily in every game.“I won’t lie, there is a little pressure (regarding his high price tag). You guys talk so much. But being the highest-paid player (in KKR) doesn’t mean I’ve to make runs in every match,” Iyer said at the post-match presentation. “It’s about how I’m winning for the team and what impact I’m able to make. The pressure is not about how much money I’m getting or how many runs I’ve to make. That’s never been the pressure on me.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Later, at the post-match media interaction, Iyer emphasised on the importance of batting according to the situation and conditions.“It’s important to show positive but correct intent,” he said. “If we’re 50/6 and I still go and tonk everything, that’s positive, but that’s not correct. Aggression does not mean tonking every ball for six. It’s about how you understand the conditions and how you are able to maximise it in your favour.“We don’t want to be the team that scores 250 when playing well and get out for 70 when we’re not,” the left-hander added. “We want to be a team which understands the pitch and the conditions quickly, to assess the par score and try to make 20 runs above par. That’s what aggression means for KKR,” said Iyer.Batting first, KKR were 106/4 in the 13th over, and it looked like they would end up with a below-par score. Iyer and Rinku Singh, however, changed the scenario with a blistering 91-run fifth-wicket stand off just 41 balls. Iyer himself scored a 29-ball 60.The hosts also exploited Sunrisers Hyderabad’s high-risk game to wrest things in their favour, bowling SRH out for 120.“Even after scoring 200-220, sometimes we feel that they (SRH) can hit it,” Iyer said. “But we always knew that a team which is ultra-aggressive always carries the risk of losing wickets. That’s what we wanted to exploit.”Iyer credited the previous batters, Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, for guiding him in the right way.“The messages that they (Rahane and Raghuvanshi) sent during the time-out made us understand that it’s not a pitch to just go and hit. You have to take your time. So it was important for us to understand what the pitch has to offer.”