KKR batter Venkatesh Iyer was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a massive price of 23.75 crores. However, his form with the bat is nowhere close to what was expected from him.
Having played for KKR since 2021, Iyer is yet to score 1500 runs for the franchise, as his returns with the bat have declined every season. He did well with the bat in KKR's title-winning season in 2024, scoring 370 runs from 15 games at a strike rate of 158.80, averaging over 46.
However, in 2025, his form with the bat has diminished considerably. So far, he has scored just 135 runs from 8 games at an average of 22.50, striking below 140.
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RP Singh Blames KKR For Releasing Shreyas Iyer
His numbers with the bat so far read 6, 3, 60, 45, 7 and 14 runs, respectively. Iyer had a good chance to stand up with the bat in KKR's last two games. However, he could not and there was some sense of pressure that was visible while he was batting.
Former Indian cricketer and IPL legend RP Singh, talking about his performance so far, felt that Venkatesh Iyer has allowed the price tag pressure to get to him. Talking to Jio Star, he said that KKR might have made a mistake by investing heavily in him this year at the mega auction.
"This is a slightly tough question because when a player is picked at such a high price in the auction, somewhere in your thoughts, you're considering him either as your main player or as a potential captaincy material. But here, he has turned out to be neither. So I feel that there has been a bit of a misjudgement from KKR during the auction, at the table during selection" said RP Singh.
"You let go of your best captain, and now he's doing well captaining another team. So I don't think it's a great option to drop this player now. Because you've already given him a good number of matches. Form issues can happen with any player, but usually, the more matches you play, the better your form gets gradually. Dropping him isn’t really a solution" he further said as he criticised KKR for releasing Shreyas Iyer after a title-winning season.
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RP Singh On Venkatesh Iyer's Constant Failures
He reiterated his point on Iyer, saying that the price tag pressure is the reason why he has not performed as expected of him.
"What could be happening is that the amount of money he was bought for is playing on his mind. Maybe he’s thinking, “I was bought for such a huge amount, I must perform and take my team to the championship. That over-expectation might be creating pressure," RP Singh added.
The former Indian cricketer concluded by saying that Iyer can be used as an opener alongside Sunil Narine, dropping one of the overseas keeper-batters. He also hinted that this will also allow KKR to play Rovman Powell in the XI as well. So far, KKR has kept him on the bench and played Andre Russell ahead of him despite his poor form with the bat.
"No, this isn't a bad idea. In fact, it's a good thought — to reduce one foreign player and let Venkatesh Iyer open. I feel Narine should definitely be in the team because his batting performances become important at times. So maybe Venkatesh and Narine can open together, and they can bring in someone like Powell in the middle order to use his power-hitting there. So this option isn't bad at all" Singh concluded saying.
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