Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane admitted that vice captain Venkatesh Iyer's performance is not coming in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, but he believes that he just just a knock away from proving his worth in the team. Venkatesh Iyer is facing a lot of criticism for his performance, he managed to score just 28 runs in his last four games.
Rahane said that KKR is backing Iyer. Defending champions Kolkata are currently in a do-or-die phase in the ongoing edition. They need to win all four remaining matches to stay in contention for the playoffs. Venkatesh Iyer was the most expensive player for Kolkata at a whopping Rs 23.75 crore
“Every player goes through that phase where he is trying his best, but the performance is not coming. He is a quality player. We all know that he has done well for the franchise in the past, (he has) won the matches for the team as well," Rahane said while speaking on the Star Sports Press Room.
“It’s important from the management (and) leadership group point of view (that) we back him. He has been working hard. People generally only see the results and the outcome. But the hard work which all the players are doing is really important," Rahane added.
Rahane is confident that Iyer will score runs in their upcoming four games.
“From my point of view, we are completely backing Venkatesh Iyer. He is just one innings away. You can probably see one good innings from him in the next four games," Rahane said.
Rahane agreed that Kolkata have struggled to find a successful opening pair and their combinations are unable to make an impact.
“Sunil Narine has done well in the past for us. This year, we started with Quinny (Quinton de Kock). Quinny played a very good knock. But again, he couldn’t capitalise on that," Rahane said.
“The errors (have) happened, and that can happen in this format. You want your players to play with freedom, play sometimes with high-risk cricket, so we are bound to make errors," Rahane added.
KKR are currently seventh in the points table with just four wins in their 10 outings of the cash-rich league.