Venkatesh Iyer on ₹23.75 Crore Price Tag in IPL 2025: ‘It’s My Life, My Career, My Team’s Call’

For much of IPL 2025, Venkatesh Iyer’s massive ₹23.75 crore price tag followed him everywhere — and not in a flattering way. Ever since Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) outbid the competition for him in the mega auction, questions poured in about whether the defending champions had overspent. The figure was the third-highest in IPL history, behind only Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer this year.

Adding fuel to the chatter was KKR’s decision not to retain trophy-winning captain Shreyas Iyer, bidding only up to ₹10 crore for him, sparking speculation that Venkatesh was eyed as a potential skipper. The scrutiny, amplified on social media, began to weigh heavily on the left-handed all-rounder, especially after a slow start to the season.

Venkatesh, who last played for India in February 2022, managed only 142 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 139, with a lone match-winning knock of 60. The Impact Player rule also meant KKR rarely used his bowling. Eventually, he says, he had to cut certain people from his contact list to block out the negativity.

“People asking these questions weren’t even on my contact list. So why should I care about what they think? It’s my life, my game, my career — and my team chose to spend on me. Even ₹20 lakh once felt huge to me when all I wanted was to play IPL cricket. Over the years, I’ve learned to focus only on opinions that truly matter,” he told Sportskeeda.

Despite being dropped for a couple of games, Venkatesh insists KKR never lost faith in him. He credits CEO Venky Mysore with putting the price tag into perspective. “He told me, ‘You get 120 units to build a team. Once it’s built, it doesn’t matter how many you’ve spent on what — it’s the team that counts.’ That really made sense to me,” he said.

Reflecting on KKR’s season, which ended without a playoff berth, Venkatesh called it “a season full of learnings” regardless of personal stats or titles. “Good or bad, trophy or no trophy, 600 runs or not — what’s constant is the learning,” he said.