LSG vs KKR: Not Gautam Gambhir!! Venkatesh Iyer thanks this man for his career revival

Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Venkatesh Iyer thanked former India captain Sourav Ganguly for helping him play out a match-winning knock against the Mumbai Indians. 

Venkatesh Iyer was on fire last night during KKR's 10th game of the season away at the Wankhede stadium against Hardik Pandya's Mumbai Indians.

His knock proved decisive as the East Indian outfit registered a dominating 24-run victory over the 5-time champions to go 2 points clear off LSG and SRH in IPL 2024 table. 

Venkatesh Iyer rescues KKR with the bat  

It was a night to remember for the Kolkata Knight Riders as they picked up their first victory against the Mumbai Indians at the iconic Wankhede stadium. It has been a venue that has produced a lot of bad memories for the Knight Riders, from their owner Shah Rukh Khan getting a 5-year ban to not winning a single match in 12 years until last night.   

It all started after Hardik Pandya asked Shreyas Iyer to go on and bat first. Kolkata's top and middle-order got off to a very poor start as MI's bowling line-up breathed fire in the powerplay overs. Nuwan Thushara picked up the first three wickets of Phillip Salt for 5 off 3, Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 13 off 6 and skipper Shreyas Iyer for 6 off 4. 

Hardik Pandya then removed the dangerous Sunil Narine cheaply for 8 off 8. Then Piyush Chawla caught and bowled Rinku Singh for 9 off 8 with KKR falling down to 57/5 in 6.1 overs. The onus was then upon the shoulders of Venkatesh Iyer and veteran Manish Pandey to consolidate a partnership and pull the team from the slump. 

While Venkatesh Iyer played the anchor role, Manish Pandey supported him really well. The duo stood for an 83-run partnership for the 6th wicket before Pandey, who walked in as the Impact player, departed after Pandya caught and bowled him for 42 off 31 in the 17th over. 

But there was no stopping Venkatesh Iyer. The 29-year-old stood at the crease with a solid intent to at least post something that the KKR bowlers can defend. And as Iyer kept smacking the ball hard, he saw big hitter Andre Russell fall for 7, Ramandeep Singh get out for 2 off 4 and Starc for 0 off 2. 

Then Venkatesh Iyer became the final wicket in the 5th ball of the 20th over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. Even though Iyer would have liked to hit a six, he was still happy to carry out his job perfectly by scoring 70 off 42, his highest score in this IPL. 

With the ball, Mitchell Starc starred with figures of 4/33 while Chakravarthy, Narine and Russell claimed 2 wickets each to bowl out MI for 145. 

Venkatesh Iyer thanked Sourav Ganguly for the post-match presentation 

It was obvious that Venkatesh Iyer was going to receive the man of the match award for his sensational knock. While speaking to Harsha Bhogle during the post-match presentation, Iyer thanked Delhi Capitals' Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly.

Venkatesh Iyer stated that his chat with Sourav Ganguly helped him in terms of improving and tweaking his stance which eventually helped him get the MOTM award.

"I've been a huge fan of dada (Sourav Ganguly). Went to ask him about my stance and technical aspects. Was a fruitful conversation. It's coming through in my stance and other aspects in the nets." - Venkatesh Iyer said after the match.