It turned out to be an extremely special Sunday (November 25) for Venkatesh Iyer as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped him in after splurging Rs 23.75 crore at the IPL mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Iyer emerged as the third most expensive player on day one of the auction and the fourth overall in the history of the tournament.
Coming into the auction, Venkatesh was not one of the six players retained by KKR and therefore it was a matter of great intrigue whether KKR were still keen on getting him back on board. However, as soon as Venkatesh's name was announced in the auction, KKR went all guns blazing for the batting allrounder and secured his services.
Venkatesh, 29, was chuffed at the prospect of returning to KKR and revealed that the franchise values player feedback as much as winning titles and creates an ideal breeding ground for talent to flourish.
"I feel that at KKR it is not all about winning the IPL title, they also emphasise a lot on player development. The way they (KKR) have backed me, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and our two West Indian legends (Sunil Narine and Andre Russell), clearly suggests that they value their players a lot," Venkatesh told JioCinema.
"Talking about the previous edition of the IPL, my contribution was not only limited to scoring runs with the willow in hand. I always wanted to be a part of the team as a leader. As players all of us at KKR have always wanted to freely express ourselves and we have managed to do that. If you have the option as a youngster or an experienced player to express your views then you can't ask for more," he added.
Rumours are running rife that the defending IPL champions may crown Venkatesh Iyer as their new captain, leading into the 18th edition of the marquee T20 tournament.
