IPL 2021: KKR vs RCB – Who is Venkatesh Iyer?

Venkatesh Iyer is making his IPL debut tonight against Royal Challengers Bangalore as the second leg of the tournament begins for Eoin Morgan and his men. So, who is Venkatesh Iyer?

Born on December 25, 1994, Iyer represents the state of Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket. He made his T20 debut against Railways at the Holkar Stadium in 2015. He also made his List A debut against Saurashtra later that year. In December 2018, he made his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy.

The 26-year-old is a batting all-rounder who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 20 Lakh during the auction before IPL 2021. He has scored 724 runs in 38 T20s at an average of 36.20 and at a strike rate of 137.64. Iyer has also picked up 21 wickets in those matches!

He was in spectacular form during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy earlier this year. He had amassed 227 runs in the competition at a spectacular average of 75.67 and at a strike rate of 149.34.

The Kolkata Knight Riders had lacked impetus during the first leg of the competition. The middle-order helmed by Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan, and Dinesh Karthik has also been under tremendous pressure to perform and they've often crumbled. Only time will tell whether the addition of Iyer will help the team overcome that clear weakness.