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Venkatesh Iyer

Venkatesh Iyer
Personal information
Full name
Venkatesh Rajasekaran Iyer
Born (1994-12-25) 25 December 1994 (age 30)
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[1][2]
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleBatting all-rounder
Relations
Shruti Raghunathan (wife)
​
​
(m. 2024)​
[3]
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 242)19 January 2022 v South Africa
Last ODI21 January 2022 v South Africa
T20I debut (cap 93)17 November 2021 v New Zealand
Last T20I27 February 2022 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2015–presentMadhya Pradesh
2021–presentKolkata Knight Riders
2024Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 2 9 20 48
Runs scored 24 133 1,132 1,526
Batting average 12.00 33.25 37.73 40.15
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 1/10 4/5
Top score 22 35* 135 198
Balls bowled 30 55 1,050 1,035
Wickets 0 5 15 26
Bowling average – 15.00 33.06 36.69
5 wickets in innings – 0 0 0
10 wickets in match – 0 0 0
Best bowling – 2/23 3/28 3/55
Catches/stumpings 0/– 4/– 9/– 20/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 19 August 2024

Venkatesh Rajasekaran Iyer (born 25 December 1994) is an Indian cricketer who plays for Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Domestic career

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Iyer made his Twenty20 debut against Railways cricket team at Holkar Stadium in March 2015 and made his List A debut against Saurashtra cricket team at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in December of the same year, while he was pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree.[4][5][6][7] After passing the CA Intermediate examinations, he decided to dropout and enroll himself in a Master of Business Administration in finance to allow him to pursue cricket further.[7] He made his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy on 6 December 2018.[8] Iyer finished as Madhya Pradesh's top scorer in the 2021-22 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 155 runs at an average of 51.66. He continued his form in the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy scoring 379 runs at an average of 63.16 with a strike rate of over 133, batting in the lower middle order. This included two centuries, one of which was a score of 151,[9] which made him the first batsman to score a score of 150 or more whilst batting at number six or lower in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.[10] He also took 9 wickets in six matches.

Indian Premier League

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In February 2021, Iyer was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL auction ahead of the 2021 Indian Premier League.[11] On 20 September 2021, upon resumption of the IPL in the United Arab Emirates, he made his IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore.[12] On 23 September 2021, he scored his maiden IPL fifty against Mumbai Indians.[13]

Iyer emerged as a key player for KKR for the rest of the tournament, aiding in their run to the final, by scoring 370 runs at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 129.[14] He was named as player of the match in the second qualifier, after scoring 55 runs and he followed this up with another half century in the final. Alongside his opening partner Shubman Gill, he put on an opening stand of 91, which proved to be in vain as KKR lost the match.[15][16][17]

On 16 April 2023, Iyer scored his maiden IPL Century against Mumbai Indians scoring 104 runs in 51 balls. Thus, he become only the 2nd Batter to score a century for KKR after Brendon McCullum did in the first match of IPL 2008, 15 years ago, but his century went in vain as KKR was defeated by Mumbai Indians.

On 24 November 2024, Iyer was bought back by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs.23.75 crore, becoming one of the most expensive players in the history of the IPL.[18]

International career

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He was asked to stay back in UAE to be a net bowler in India's 2021 ICC T20 World Cup squad.[19][20] In November 2021, he was named in India's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against New Zealand.[21] He made his T20I debut on 17 November 2021, for India against New Zealand.[22] He made his international bowling debut in the final match of this series, returning figures of 3-0-12-1.[23]

In December 2021, he was named in India's One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against South Africa.[24] He made his ODI debut on 19 January 2022, for India against South Africa.[25]

In January 2022, he was named in India's T20I squad for their series against the West Indies,[26] where he played all three matches, playing a finishing role in the lower middle order scoring his runs at a strike rate of 179.24.[27] He also picked up two wickets in the series.

In June 2022, Iyer was named in India's squad for their T20I series against Ireland.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Puthran, Aayush; Sarkar, Akash. "A studious rise: the making of Venkatesh Iyer". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  2. ^ Acharya, Shayan (10 November 2021). "Venkatesh Iyer 'not setting any targets' after India call-up". Sportstar. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Venkatesh Iyer gets married". Times of India. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Full Scorecard of M. Pradesh vs Railways Central Zone 2014/15 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo.
  5. ^ "Full Scorecard of Saurashtra vs M. Pradesh Group D 2015/16 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  6. ^ "News, Breaking News, Latest News, News Headlines, Live News, Today News CNN-News18". News18. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Who is Venkatesh Iyer, KKR's latest debutant?". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Elite, Group B, Ranji Trophy at Indore, Dec 6-9 2018". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Venkatesh Iyer's dazzling 151 continues his dream run". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Stats - Himachal Pradesh's first big title, Rishi Dhawan's all-round brilliance". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  11. ^ "IPL 2021 auction: The list of sold and unsold players". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  12. ^ Sportstar, Team (21 September 2021). "Who's Venkatesh Iyer? Meet KKR's new all-rounder". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  13. ^ "VIVO IPL 2021, Match 34 MI vs KKR – Match Report". www.iplt20.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  14. ^ "IPL 2021 - Three Chennai Super Kings players in ESPNcricinfo's Team of the Tournament". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  15. ^ "IPLT20.com - Indian Premier League Official Website - Results". www.iplt20.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  16. ^ "VIVO IPL 2021, Qualifier 2 KKR vs DC – Match Report". Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  17. ^ "VIVO IPL 2021, Final CSK vs KKR – Match Report". www.iplt20.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  18. ^ "IPL Auction 2025: Venkatesh Iyer hits Rs 23.75 crore jackpot return to KKR".
  19. ^ "Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan To Stay Back In UAE To Join As India's Net Bowlers For T20 World Cup 2021 – Reports". 12 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  20. ^ "T20 World Cup: Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel and Umran Malik among 8 players to assist india's preparations". India Today. 13 October 2021. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Rohit Sharma to captain India in T20Is against New Zealand". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  22. ^ "1st T20I (N), Jaipur, Nov 17 2021, New Zealand tour of India". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Rohit Sharma: Venkatesh Iyer's bowling important going forward, says Rohit Sharma | Cricket News - Times of India". The Times of India. 22 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Rohit misses South Africa ODIs with injury, Rahul named captain". ESPNcricinfo. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  25. ^ "1st ODI, Paarl, Jan 19 2022, India tour of South Africa". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Fit-again Rohit to lead India for WI series; Kuldeep back for ODIs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Suryakumar and Venkatesh - doing the dirty work, and giving it a good scrub". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  28. ^ "Hardik Pandya to captain India in Ireland T20Is; Rahul Tripathi gets maiden call-up". ESPNcricinfo. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
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