Released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Venkatesh Iyer is one of the two Indian players who have registered themselves at the highest base price of Rs 2 crore for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction. While Iyer has not been consistent of late, he will be on the wishlist of many franchises. The Madhya Pradesh all-rounder sent a reminder to the franchises hours ahead of the auction with a 43-ball 70 as opener against Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 Super League stage encounter.
Iyer lays foundation, MP post big total
After Punjab skipper Prabhsimran Singh won the toss asked MP to bat first, Iyer walked out to open alongside Harsh Gawali. Gurnoor Brar struck in his second over, dismissing Gawali for a single-digit score. But Iyer and Harpreet Singh used the powerplay overs well. MP crossed the 50-run mark in the sixth over. But right after the fielding restrictions were lifted, Bhatia fell for a 15-ball 27 to Jassinder Singh. They shared a 49-run partnership for the second wicket.
Skipper Rajat Patidar started well but lost his wicket to Ramandeep Singh for an 11-ball 20. MP crossed the 100-run mark in the 12th over. Iyer was not at his attacking best but reached his fifty from 35 deliveries. He missed out on a chance to score a century. In the 17th over, he lost his wicket to Ramandeep. The all-rounder scored 70 runs from 43 deliveries, featuring eight fours and two sixes.
Aniket Verma (16-ball 31), Mangesh Yadav (12-ball 28) and Tripuresh Singh's (4-ball 11) cameos helped MP post 225/8.
Venkatesh Iyer’s SMAT numbers
In the ongoing SMAT 2025, Iyer has managed to score 211 runs from 10 innings at an average of 26.37 and strike rate of 119.20. He has scored two half-centuries in the season.
How much did Venkatesh Iyer fetch in IPL mock auction?
In the mock auction hosted by JioStar, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) represented by their former captain, Anil Kumble got Iyer’s services for Rs 6 crore. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Gujarat Titans (GT) represented by Robin Uthappa and Cheteshwar Pujara respectively, were interested in him as well.