KKR under fire from fans as bidding war for Venkatesh Iyer culminates in INR 23.75 crore purchase: 'Why let him slip away?'

In a stunning turn of events at the IPL 2025 auction, Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer became the highest-paid player, as Kolkata Knight Riders spared no expense to retain their star player from the previous championship-winning team in 2024. Despite fierce competition from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, KKR secured Iyer's services for a record-breaking INR 23.75 crore.

The bid makes Iyer the fourth-most expensive player in auction history after Rishabh Pant broke the record earlier in the day, fetching INR 27 crore at the auction. Shreyas Iyer, KKR's former captain, was bought by the Punjab Kings for INR 26.75 crore.

The intense bidding for Iyer did raise eyebrows, particularly with criticism for the Knight Riders, as they had a chance to retain the all-rounder earlier. Iyer was used as an opener in the 2024 season alongside Sunil Narine, with the batter scoring 370 runs throughout the title-winning season at a brilliant strike rate of 158.

However, Iyer wasn't a part of KKR's retention list, with the franchise deciding to place its faith in Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh.

The fans on the internet were critical of KKR for not retaining Iyer earlier, and instead splashing a mammoth amount on the all-rounder.

Even as Venkatesh Iyer was registered as an all-rounder at the IPL 2025 auction, he has hardly been used with the ball in the tournament. In the last season, Iyer bowled only one over throughout the season; he conceded 28 runs off it against Rishabh Pant.

In fact, Iyer has only three wickets in his IPL career, having bowled only 12.3 overs.

Even in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Iyer was expensive with the ball in the first match against Mizoram, conceding 23 runs off two deliveries. However, the player was explosive with the bat even in the middle-order, scoring a quickfire 36 off just 15 balls.