Who is Venkatesh Iyer?

Venkatesh Iyer is an Indian international cricketer and plays for Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket. In November 2021, he made his international debut for the Indian Cricket Team. He represents the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2022 season.

Venkatesh Rajasekaran Iyer was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on December 25, 1994. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. 

In March 2015, Iyer made his Twenty20 debut at Holkar Stadium against the Railways cricket team. In the same year, in December, he made his List A debut against the Saurashtra cricket team.

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In December 2018, Iyer made his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy. With 155 runs at an average of 51.66 in the 2021-22 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Iyer was Madhya Pradesh’s leading scorer. In the 2021-22 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he batted in the bottom middle order and scored 379 runs at an average of 63.16 and a strike rate of above 133.

Iyer was named in India’s Twenty20 international squad for their series against New Zealand in November 2021. In December 2021, he was selected for India’s ODI series against South Africa.

He was picked in India’s T20I team for their series against the West Indies in January 2022, where he played all three matches, finishing in the lower middle order and earning runs at a strike rate of 179.24 while also taking two wickets.

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Iyer was purchased by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL auction in 2021. He made his IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He scored his first IPL fifty against the Mumbai Indians.

Iyer became the key player for the Kolkata Knight Riders for the rest of the tournament. After hitting 55 runs in the second qualifier, he was selected as player of the match, and he backed that up with another half-century in the final.