IPL 2025 Auction: Venkatesh is ready to captain Kolkata Knight Riders, said- like to accept the challenge

Happy to be bought by his old franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 23.75 crore in the IPL mega auction, all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer on Sunday said that he would gladly accept the challenge of captaining the team. The Shahrukh Khan-owned franchise decided not to retain its 2024 IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer in the ongoing mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He did bid on Shreyas in the auction but was not ready to pay a big amount. However, he spent a big amount to include Venkatesh in the team. At present, KKR does not have any player who can captain or has more experience before.

After being bought by KKR for a big amount, Venkatesh said, 'I got a chance to captain the team in the absence of Nitish Rana, I was the vice-captain of the team when he was injured. I have always believed that captaincy is just a position. Leading the team is about creating an environment where everyone feels they can play and contribute to this team. If given the responsibility, I will be very happy to take it.

He said, 'Our goal will be to defend the championship together and continue our winning campaign. Thank you very much for selecting me for your team.' Venkatesh has played nine T20 Internationals and two ODIs for India. He became the third most expensive buy in the IPL mega auction after Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants, Rs 27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings, Rs 26.75 crore). The franchise has retained Rinku Singh, Varun Chakraborty, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh. The team includes four capped and two uncapped players.