IPL auction 2025: Venkatesh Iyer, who was on Sunday bought back by Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping ₹23.75 crore at the IPL auction 2025, has said that he would be "more than happy" to take on the captaincy challenge and step into Shreyas Iyer's shoes.
In an unexpected move, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise did not retain their 2024 IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer at the mega auction in Jeddah. They went for an all-out bidding war against Royal Challengers Bengaluru to secure Venkatesh.
With this, Venkatesh became the fourth most expensive player in IPL history.
After the bidding, Venkatesh said, "I had the opportunity to captain the side in Nitish Rana’s absence when he was unfortunately injured, and I was the vice-captain as well."
He added, "I’ve always believed that captaincy is just a tag, but leadership is about creating an environment where everyone feels they can play for this team and contribute. If given the responsibility, I would be more than happy to take it on. Absolutely (I'm ready for it)."
"Together, we will aim to defend the championship and continue our winning campaign. Thank you very much for picking me in your squad,” he added.
This season, Venkatesh became the third-most expensive buy at the IPL mega auction, after Shreyas (Punjab Kings, ₹26.75 crore) and Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants, ₹27 crore).
He has represented India in nine T20Is and two ODIs. After the auction, he thanked the franchise for choosing him.
“Thank you, KKR, for trusting me and showing so much belief in me. I'm extremely delighted to be part of Kolkata Knight Riders again. To be honest, I'm at a loss for words, but I'm elated to be part of the KKR team once again," said the 29-year-old.
"The KKR coach (Chandrakant Pandit) was also my coach in Madhya Pradesh. We were discussing how I felt nervous about coming back to KKR. But again, it’s a message of the franchise's focus on winning championships and player development and how much they value its players. I’m thrilled to play for KKR again and happy they’ve shown so much confidence in me.”
(With PTI inputs)
