Neither main player nor captaincy material: KKR slammed for choosing Venkatesh Iyer over Shreyas Iyer

Things have not gone well for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing IPL 2025. While the reigning champions looked almost invincible last season and went on to win the trophy, they have struggled right from the start this season.

After losing some key players, such as their former captain Shreyas Iyer, Phil Salt, and Mitchell Starc, the three-time champions have not been able to do well this season. They are currently languishing at the seventh spot in the points table with just three wins from eight games.

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While they are still in the competition, they need a remarkable turnaround to progress ahead of the league stage. One of the reasons behind KKR's struggle this season is the failure of their top order. While Sunil Narine and Phil Salt formed a formidable partnership for KKR last season, the reigning champions have struggled to get a reliable opening combination for the ongoing season.

Narine has looked like a pale shadow of his usual self, while KKR's new openers Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have failed to impress as well. With things not working out for KKR so far, former India pacer RP Singh has said that the Kolkata-based outfit should promote Venkatesh Iyer as their opener.

"Sunil Narine is an impactful player He is a good batsman. KKR have benefited from his batting in the past. He can work on his preparation," said RP Singh on JioStar.

"Reduce one foreign player. And get Venkatesh Iyer as an opener. I think Narine should stay. His batting performance is important. Venkatesh Iyer can open with Narine. And use the power of Rovman Powell. It's not a bad option. It happens a lot.

"KKR have invested a lot Venkatesh Iyer. He has given a lot of time. Let him be an opener," he added.

RP Singh on Venkatesh Iyer's price tag:

RP Singh was also asked about Venkatesh Iyer's huge price tag. While KKR decided against going big for the likes of Shreyas Iyer and other notable names in the mega auction, they secured the services of Venkatesh Iyer for INR 23.75 crore.

The decision has baffled many, and RP Singh does not seem like an exception either. The former India pacer stated that a team usually pays such a big amount for a player who is either the captain of the team or the most important player, but Venkatesh Iyer has been neither of the two.

"When you make a player a part of your team in such a big auction, you must be thinking about whether he will be our main player or our captaincy material. But both those things are not there. I think KKR management has made a mistake. When you left your best captain (Shreyas Iyer) at the auction table, somebody will definitely pick him and now he's captaining well at PBKS.

"At this moment, I don't think it will be wise to drop Iyer. You have given him a number of matches. You can only get a quality player back in form by giving him more matches. The money given to him to make him a part of the team may be playing in his mind. 'I have received so much money, why can't I make my team a champion?' There is an overpressure," said Singh.

Iyer has managed to score only 135 runs in 8 games so far. He is likely to remain a regular in the KKR lineup and will be eyeing a better performance in the remaining games of the season.