IPL 2021: Meet Venkatesh Iyer, the explosive KKR opener who was once a MBA student

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) decided to include a new opener in their playing XI for their first match of the second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday (September 20). The KKR included Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer in the squad for the match  at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Iyer, 26, played a superb innings against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore as he scored 41 off 27 balls and helped KKR register a comprehensive nine-wicket win.

According to reports, Iyer was a very studious student and he once got enrolled for a B.Com degree, alongside a chartered accountancy degree. In 2016, Iyer opped in the CA intermediate examinations in 2016 but he did not decide to attemp the CA finals and instead preferred to concentrate more on cricket.

Iyer had already made his T20 and 50-overs debuts for the Madhya Pradesh senior team by then. “I decided to give up my CA and pursue an MBA in finance,” Iyer was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. “I gave a lot of entrance exams, had decent scores, and enrolled into a good college. I was fortunate the faculty liked cricket, and they saw I was doing well, and gave me the cushion by taking care of my attendance, preparing notes and rescheduling exams.”

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan was stunned to see Iyer's batting. “That cover drive from young Venkatesh Iyer to Siraj #replay,” Pathan tweeted.

Cricketer-turned-politician Manoj Tiwary tweeted, “Kudos to @KKRiders on identifying the talent in Venketesh Iyer, whatever i have seen of him in domestic cricket and today in #IPL2021 if nurtured well by #bcci then he is the next fast bowling all-rounder along with Hardik for team India. Keep an eye on him guys #RCBvsKKR.”

In February 2021, Iyer hit 198 runs against Punjab in the List A tournament Vijay Hazare Trophy. He hit 20 fours and 7 sixes. He scored 273 runs in five matches of the tournament.