Is Venkatesh Iyer on his way out of Kolkata Knight Riders? Aakash Chopra feels IPL side dropped hint during SRH vs KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders' poor defence of their Indian Premier League title ended on May 25 after they crashed to a huge defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last IPL 2025 fixture.
KKR conceded a massive 278/3 in the first innings to the Hyderabad franchise before putting on a meek chase that ended with the defending champions getting skittled out for 168.
Their 110-run defeat at the Arun Jaitley Stadium epitomised their batting struggles as they finished IPL 2025 at a disappointed eighth with 12 points from 14 matches.
One of the biggest disappointments for KKR from the batting unit has been Venkatesh Iyer, who was roped in for a huge sum of ₹ 23 crore.
To say he has had a poor season would be an understatement, and KKR left the lanky southpaw out for the SRH fixture; he was on the Impact Substitute list but was not brought in.
This is the second time he didn't feature for KKR in IPL 2025 after being dropped for the Chennai Super Kings clash on May 7.
Commentator Aakash Chopra wondered whether his exclusion was a sign that KKR could move on from him ahead of IPL 2026 as they look to rebuild their squad before next season.
"The big news for me from this match was that they didn't play Venkatesh Iyer. He was in the impact substitute's list, but you didn't get him to bat. You got Manish Pandey and Angkrish Raghuvanshi to bat, and you played Ramandeep Singh and Rinku Singh. You played everyone, but you left Venky out," Chopra said while speaking on his official YouTube channel.
"Is that the indicator that Venky will be released next year? You will release ₹ 23 crore, and then you may want to buy him back at a lesser price. That is a possibility, but I feel we have got an indicator for next year," he added.
The lanky southpaw featured only 11 times for the defending champions this year, and his numbers make for poor reading.
Iyer could muster only 142 runs in the entire season at an average of 20.29 and a strike rate of 139.22. Part of the reason for his poor form could be a change in his batting position.
The left-handed batsman usually plays at the top of the innings but has featured lower in the batting order this year for KKR.
With South African Quinton de Kock and West Indies' Sunil Narine cementing their spot as openers for KKR, Iyer could well be on his way out of the franchise if they choose to retain the duo at the top.
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