India's INR 23.75 crore star deletes critics from contact list after disastrous IPL: ‘It’s my life, my game, my career’

For the large part of IPL 2025, wherever Venkatesh Iyer went, the discussion around his price tag followed. And most of that was negative. Right from the moment the hammer went down in the Kolkata Knight Riders' favour for Venkatesh Iyer in the mega auction, eyes questioning the move of shelling out a whopping ₹23.75 crores have been relentless. It's a staggering amount. It would have easily become the highest bid in most other IPL auctions -- it was the third costliest behind Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer this year. Venkatesh Iyer (centre) celebrates with India cricketers(ANI)

The added masala in the story was the fact that KKR, the defending champions, did not hold their trophy-winning Shreyas Iyer and only bid for him till ₹10 crore in the auctions. Did they want Venkatesh Iyer as captain? It was widely discussed on social media, and the scrutiny was so intense that it started weighing Venkatesh down.

The left-handed batter, who made an impact in the second half of IPL 2021, got off to a torrid start in IPL 2025. As runs dried up from his bat, the weight of his price tag became unbearable, not because of the management or self-doubts but because of the constant outside noise. It reached a point where Venkatesh Iyer had to delete some people from his contact list.

"People who had these questions are not even on my contact list. So why do I have to even think about what they are thinking?" Venkatesh Iyer, who last represented India in February 2022, told Sportskeeda when asked about the criticism he faced during the last IPL because of his price tag.

Vebkatesh scored just 142 runs in 11 matches this year at a strike rate of 139. Apart from a match-winning 60, he did not have much to show. The presence of the Impact Player rule meant there was no need for KKR to use his bowling on a regular basis.

But the lanky all-rounder is not bothered about the negativity being spread about his price tag. It’s my life, my game, my career. And it’s my team that has chosen to spend so much on me. So these things don’t faze me. See, for a boy who wanted to just play IPL cricket, even ₹20 lakh would sometimes feel like a significant amount. And over the years, this is what I’ve learnt. Not just me, but all the cricketers have learnt this: there are a lot of eyes on you, but it’s important to know what to pay heed to. People who have had a direct impact on my life, I am answerable to only them," he said.

‘It’s not about the money, it's about where I fit in': Venkatesh Iyer

Venkatesh Iyer was dropped from the XI for a couple of games during IPL 2025, but the Madhya Pradesh all-rounder insists that the KKR management never lost faith in him. In fact, KKR CEO Venky Mysore did his best to play down the ₹23.75 price.

"It’s not about just the money, it’s about where I fit in their scheme of things. Venky sir once told me something, which I felt made a lot of sense. He said, “At the end of the day, you are given 120 units to build a team. Once the team is built, it doesn’t matter how many units you have spent on what. It is a team that has been made now, that’s it," he added.

When asked about his takeaways from the last season where KKR could not make it to the playoffs, Venkatesh said: "Yeah, I have taken the learnings, taken the positives, and whatever mistakes happened. But yeah, there were a lot of things that have come up that I feel hindered my performance. But all in all, good one or bad one, winning the trophy or not winning it, scoring 600-700 runs, that and all is different. It was a season full of learnings, and that is what is constant."

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