Venkatesh Iyer became the third-most expensive player in the IPL 2025 mega auction on Sunday when defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured his services for a staggering ₹23.75 crore. Starting with a base price of ₹2 crore, KKR quickly placed their bid, with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) joining the auction at ₹6 crore. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) entered the bidding at ₹8.5 crore, but after LSG dropped out, KKR fought off RCB to retain their all-rounder.
Earlier, Shreyas Iyer was purchased by Punjab Kings for ₹26.75 crore, and Rishabh Pant was picked up by LSG for ₹27 crore.
Venkatesh, who joined KKR in 2020, has been a key figure for the team, impressing everyone with his debut season in Dubai. In 2020, he scored 350 runs in 10 matches, helping KKR reach the final. Overall, he has scored 1,326 runs in 51 IPL matches, all for KKR. Notably, Venkatesh became the second KKR batter in 15 years to score a century in the IPL and also hit a half-century in the 2024 final, where KKR triumphed over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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Apart from Venkatesh, KKR also acquired South African Quinton de Kock for ₹3.6 crore and Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz for ₹2 crore, marking a return for Gurbaz, who had previously been part of the KKR squad.