 "Rahane says hefty price tag not to blame for Venkatesh’s poor IPL 2025 run: ‘Attitude doesn't change on the field’")
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane came to all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer’s defence after the latter signed off from the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) with just 142 runs in 11 outings, his worst performance in an IPL season since he made his debut in 2021.
Rahane added that while the dearth of match-winning performances from Venkatesh and other key members of the batting lineup was a key reason behind defending champions KKR finishing eighth out of 10 teams, he didn’t think the all-rounder’s hefty price tag had anything to do with his loss of form.
“Someone’s not going to work doubly harder if he’s getting Rs 20-plus crore, or someone’s not going to work less harder when he’s getting one, two, three crore, whatever it is,” Rahane said after KKR suffered a 110-run thrashing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad in their final match of the season.
“…your attitude doesn’t change on the field. You know, that’s what matters. As a player, you only focus on the controllable things. And I felt Venkatesh Iyer was actually focusing on the controllable things.
“I thought his attitude was fantastic. One off season, that can happen to any player. So it’s not about the price tag. I don’t think he was thinking about his price tag at all. But just one of those seasons that we had to go through,” Rahane, who was a last-minute buy for KKR in the IPL auction, added.
Venkatesh had played an important role in helping KKR win their third title under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy last year, scoring 370 runs at an average and strike rate of 46.25 and 158.80 respectively and collecting four half-centuries along the way.
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His contributions with the bat helped him fetch a price of Rs 23.75 crore in the mega auction in November with the Knight Riders management opting to buy him back over captain Shreyas after releasing both into the auction pool.
Shreyas was bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 crore and was later named their captain, and would lead from the front in helping the team reach the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
Rahane blames poor run of key batters for KKR’s underwhelming season
Venkatesh’s poor run, along with the loss of form of several other key batters, proved to be a key reason behind KKR’s underwhelming run this season with Rahane and Co finishing with five wins and seven defeats, with two games rained off.
“It’s just that for us as a team, three-four guys were out of form. Where we faltered was at the batting end. As a batting unit, collectively, we couldn’t do well,” Rahane told reporters.
“Unfortunately, two-three players were going through that phase for us. And that was the reason we couldn’t do well…But again, they are pretty much experienced enough to handle this situation.
“I’m sure they will come back stronger next year…Rinku (Singh), Raman (Ramandeep Singh), all the players, they will learn from the mistakes and come back stronger,” the Mumbaikar added.
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Rahane, however, showered praise on the bowling unit, especially for their clinical performances in the away games against Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings.
“The wickets were really good for the batters. But I thought, bowling throughout the season, as a bowling unit, we did really well…all the bowlers who have played, their thinking was really clear.”
‘Two-three games could have been slightly different’
The 36-year-old, summarising his team’s performance this season, also felt the outcome of the season could have been very different had KKR not crumbled in a couple of matches, especially in the match against PBKS in Mullanpur in which they were bundled out for 95 while chasing a meagre 112-run target, with Andre Russell being the last man dismissed.
“See, this season, I think for us, (it has been) kind of an up and down. We had our moments. We had our chances and I said that earlier also during those matches, as a unit, we didn’t play well, really well,” Rahane said.
“But again, this format, that’s how it goes, you know…the Punjab Kings game, LSG game and also the CSK game, I thought those two-three games could have been slightly different.
“It’s not easy when you win a championship and, you know, come into the next season, defending the championship, it’s not that easy. As a team, we tried our best. What I can say is, we’ll come back really stronger next year,” Rahane added in his final presser of the season.
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