Venkatesh Iyer looks back at IPL 2025 learnings after a disappointing season for KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders’ all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has opened up on how he dealt with criticism after a poor run in IPL 2025. Iyer scored 142 runs in seven innings and didn’t bowl in any of the 11 games he was part of.

The left-handed batter was re-signed for a huge amount of INR 23.75 crore, which was the third-highest in IPL 2025 mega auction after Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer.

When Iyer could not perform in IPL 2025, the huge pressure of a high price tag kept piling on. The Madhya Pradesh batter said he was not bothered by the criticism he faced during IPL 2025.

“People who had these questions are not even on my contact list,” Iyer told Sportskeeda. “So why do I have to even think about what they are thinking? It’s my life, my game, my career. And it’s my team that has chosen to spend so much on me. So these things don’t faze me. See, for a boy who wanted to just play IPL cricket, even ₹20 lakh would sometimes feel like a significant amount. And over the years, this is what I’ve learnt. Not just me, but all the cricketers have learnt this: there are a lot of eyes on you, but it’s important to know what to pay heed to.”

“People who have had a direct impact on my life, I am answerable to only them,” he adds.

Iyer, however, doesn’t feel that one should just completely ignore the criticism coming their way.

“A lot of people have opinions – good and bad. But I only take opinions from people who directly impact me. And of course, legends were talking in analysis. And not paying heed to them is not correct, but you should understand where they are coming from. It is important to understand the fact that it’s me who’s battling in that situation. So it is tough to deal with those opinions when things don’t go your way,” he said.

Iyer has scored 1468 runs in 62 IPL matches, including a century and 12 fifties. The southpaw said he was able to take his learnings after having positive discussions with the former players.

“I am sure all these legends must have gone through a similar phase. And they understand as well. When I met these people, they were extremely kind enough to tell me what was going wrong and how to kind of negate all those things. I do take the learnings and not the critics part of it,” he said.

Iyer would look to bounce back strongly in the upcoming domestic season.