"KKR introduced me to World of Cricket" - Venkatesh Iyer reacts after retained by KKR for IPL 2022
Kolkata Knight Riders' Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 hero Venkatesh Iyer has spoken on him being retained by the franchise before the IPL 2022 Mega Auction.
The IPL is set to hit reset button with the IPL 2022 coming next year. 2 new franchises from Ahmedabad and from Lucknow are also set to join the league.
And therefore, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the IPL will see a mega auction before the IPL 2022.
In a Mega Auction, a team is only allowed to retain a maximum of 4 players, with combination of Indian and overseas players. Kolkata Knight Riders'opted to retain 2 overseas and 2 Indian players, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer respectively.
Talking about Venkatesh Iyer, he was the find of the season for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in this year's IPL. While he was nowhere near the first team in the first phase of the event, he performed really well in the phase 2 in UAE.
As a result of his performance, the Madhya Pradesh cricketer has earned a retention from the franchise for the next season.
While speaking to the KKR Media after the retention, Venkatesh Iyer stated that KKR gave him his big break and introduced him to the world of cricket. He continued that the franchise has played a vital role in leading him to the India's blue jersey and he waits to play at the Eden Gardens.
KKR all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer says: “KKR is the franchise that gave me the big break, introduce me to the world of cricket. I am extremely grateful to the KKR management for putting their faith in me. It really feels great. I feel at home being a part of KKR”#KKR | #IPL2022
— CricMadness (@CricMady) December 1, 2021
Venkatesh Iyer in IPL 2021
He played a total of 10 matches in this year's IPL, all of them in UAE, and scored 370 runs and picked up 3 wickets. Partnering with Shubman Gill at the top, the duo guided the team to the IPL 2021 Final, but, bowed out to Chennai Super Kings.
As a result of his stunning performance in the IPL 2021, Venkatesh Iyer earned a call-up to the Indian cricket team for the New Zealand Test series. He made his debut in the very first match itself.
In the 3 matches that he played, he scored 36 runs and picked up 1 wicket bowling just 3 overs in the 3rd T20I in Kolkata. He was pretty economical with his bowling, as he just gave 12 runs in his 3 overs.