Kolkata Knight Riders Venkatesh Iyer plays a shot during the Indian Premier League 2025 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer learnt quickly from his below-par performances to improve and contribute a crucial 29-ball 60 to help Kolkata Knight Riders trounce Sunrisers Hyderabad by 80 runs in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday (April 3, 2025) night.
Venkatesh, who fell cheaply in two matches, said, “Maybe I was rushing a little in the initial two matches. For me, it has always been to keep things simple. Because my batting position is such that the situations that I will play will keep on changing. I always need to understand what mindset I am carrying.”
Explaining his 91-run partnership with Rinku Singh, Venkatesh said they tried to understand the pitch before accelerating. “The main communication was (sent) by Ajinkya (Rahane) and Angkrish (Raghuvanshi)…that it’s not an easy pitch to just go out there and hit. The ball was sticking a little, it was turning. Even if I take a few balls, I know that if I can cover it to an extent, we still have the engine room (staff) who can demolish any bowling attack.”
The KKR vice-captain said, for his team, aggression meant scoring above-par totals sensibly and consistently. Praising the home bowlers, Venkatesh favoured players adapting to different surfaces but wanted a pitch as per the host’s requirements.
SRH bowling coach James Franklin admitted that his team’s bowling in the death overs was not up to the mark. “Sixty-six with our last four overs probably reflects that we didn’t get it quite right,” said Franklin.
Published – April 04, 2025 12:22 pm IST
