Venkatesh Iyer

One of the remarkable power-hitters of the white-ball and a capable right-arm medium-fast bowler, Venkatesh Iyer is a professional Indian cricketer who plays for Madhya Pradesh in the domestic leagues. Prior to his IPL debut in 2021, Iyer had already finished his MBA in finance after completing B.Com and gave up a job in “Big 4” to pursue his dreams of playing professional cricket.

Iyer made his Twenty20 debut against Railways on March 25, 2015. Though he didn’t get the opportunity to bat but took a wicket conceding 21 runs. 

After a year of establishing himself in the domestic circuit, he played his maiden List A match against Saurashtra on December 11, 2015. A couple of misfires in domestic cricket saw Iyer in and out of the squad on multiple occasions.

After 3 years of struggles and uncertainties, the Indore-born prospect finally got his shot in domestic red-ball cricket against Hyderabad on December 6, 2018 but yet again he didn’t get an opportunity to bat. In the 2020-21 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, Iyer amassed 227 runs in just 5 matches and his knock of 88 not out vs Saurashtra hogged the headlines. He finished with an average of over 75 in the tournament. 

Iyer’s top-notch all-round performances fetched him his first-ever IPL contract from KKR at a base price of INR 20 lakhs. 

The Madhya Pradesh cricketer slammed 198 in an elite group game of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 season, which was one of the most memorable and historic knocks of his career. Iyer’s inning propelled Madhya Pradesh to a mammoth total of 402/3 in 50 overs and he also broke the previously made record of David Warner (197 against Victoria back in 2013).

With the likes of Andre Russell and Shivam Mavi in the squad, Iyer might have to fight for a place in the Kolkata Knight Riders' playing XI during the IPL 2021 but being around such big names like Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, and Dinesh Karthik, he certainly will improve a lot in the upcoming years.

(As of March 2021)