Venkatesh Iyer's sloppy batting approach, following Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)'s loss to Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025, puzzled fans and experts. Chasing 199, Venkatesh, who came to bat no. 4 ahead of the in-form Angkrish Raghuvanshi, managed just 14 off 19 deliveries, before being put out of his misery by R Sai Kishore. While speaking to ESPNcricinfo after the match, Former Australia captain Aaron Finch blasted Venkatesh and questioned his intent as KKR fell short by 39 runs in the end.
"It's an intent to take it down. You can't hit a six or a boundary if you are not trying to. If your first instinct is to just knock it to the leg side, and run one, you are on a hiding to nothing. It was just mesmerising, the lack of intent," said Finch, a former teammate of Venkatesh at KKR.
Finch's sentiments were echoed by Cheteshwar Pujara, who was also puzzled by the lack of intent during Venkatesh's knock.
"I don't know when was the time-out, because I also feel that there are times where, as a batter, you feel the conditions a little challenging so you just want to knock it around. But, when you have time out, that's when the coaches and the support staff, comes in, and then you make another strategy," Pujara said during the same discussion.
However, Pujara also questioned the role of the KKR management.
"I do agree that Venkatesh didn't play the role that he should have played, but at the same time, was he told that he just had to knock around when Rashid was bowling? I don't know what the message was," he added.
Venkatesh, who was bought by KKR for Rs 23.75 crore during the mega auction, has failed to live up to his hefty price tag. In eight matches so far, Venkatesh has managed just 135 runs at an average of 22.50.