'Gautam Gambhir reminded us that...' - Venkatesh Iyer takes a dig at Virat Kohli and RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders' hero from the IPL 2024 final Venkatesh Iyer took a brutal and cryptic dig at RCB and their former captain Virat Kohli.

Venkatesh Iyer, who scored a sensational half-century last Sunday to clinch the 3rd IPL title for Kolkata, spoke without fear in his latest interview. Just as fearless as he was during the finale and throughout the whole season. Iyer made a lot of difference with the bat in hand for the KKR and finally felt what it's like to be the champion of the richest T20 league.

Back in 2021, Venkatesh Iyer had remained a step away from becoming an IPL champion as the Chennai Super Kings defeated them in the final. But this year with Gautam Gambhir backing him and the other players, the Knight Riders were just a different beast. They had everything it took to become a champion team but Iyer was the main differentiator.

What did Venkatesh Iyer say about Virat Kohli and RCB?

While speaking to RevSportz in an exclusive interview after the IPL final, Venkatesh Iyer was very candid when talking about Kolkata's title-winning season. The first question that was asked to Iyer was about the takeaways, learnings, and experience of sharing the dressing room with Gautam Gambhir who came in this season as the Mentor.

The answer that Venkatesh Iyer gave, was a true testament to what Gautam Gambhir did to his mentality. The left-hand batter started off by highlighting Gambhir's most important virtue - that cricket is a team game and therefore everyone should be willing to help each other.

Venkatesh Iyer clearly stated that people often talk about individual milestones despite the game being a proper team sport. He added that someone's 600-run season means nothing if they don't end up becoming a champion side. Ramandeep Singh's 95-run season was far more crucial and far more valuable because it came at a winning cause.

It was a cryptic dig at Virat Kohli, who scored more than 600 runs, 741 runs to be precise, but ended up getting knocked out of the playoffs.

"The talk was always about the team. That it is not an individual sport, and that it was always about the team. People from the outside always talk about individual scores. But take the 95 runs scored by Ramandeep Singh. They are more valuable for us at KKR than may be 600 runs scored by someone else," Iyer said via RevSportz.

Venkatesh Iyer says Gambhir always stresses on the collectives and not the individuals

Venkatesh Iyer then said that Gautam Gambhir used to always remind the KKR players about the importance of a collective effort. Iyer also revealed how Gambhir used to welcome him whenever he wanted to know how he could contribute to the team. The former Indian World Cup winner used to welcome him with a smile each and every time.

"That’s what he reminded us continuously. Each time I spoke to him, he would welcome me with a smile and tell me how I could make a difference to the team. That’s the moot point with him – it is always about the collective, and not ever about any individual," Venkatesh Iyer concluded.