"If You Don't Pick...": KKR Reveal Venkatesh's 'Ultimatum' Behind Huge Bid

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore explained the rationale behind acquiring all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer for a heft price tag in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. The IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah saw a couple of surprise picks, with Venkatesh's return to KKR being one of them. Throughout the fierce bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, KKR didn't back down from shelling out money to bring the all-rounder back to Eden Gardens. After successfully signing the all-rounder, KKR revealed that they were given an 'ultimatum' by the player ahead of the auction.

After brushing away competition from the rest of the franchises, Venkatesh was sold to KKR, who broke the bank by acquiring him for Rs 23.75 crore, the fourth-highest in the history of the cash-rich league.

Mysore explained their decision to go all out for Venaktesh to bring him back and said during a press conference, "The auctions are this way only. At the end of the day, it is about the player you want and the type of player you want. It [the prices] surprises you all the time. When you have salary caps like this, which keep going up, the prices will expand."

"For us, it was about keeping our core. We kept six players and have brought 2-3 players back from last year. That was the thinking. We definitely didn't want to find ourselves in a situation where we would not want him back. But on an overall basis, it all balances out," he added.

During KKR's title-winning campaign in the IPL 2024, Venkatesh hammered 370 runs, averaging 46.25 with a strike rate of 158.80. Mysore also revealed that KKR were given an ultimatum by Venaktesh ahead of the auction. 

"They've proven on the field what they can do. You saw in a championship year, and one year we went to the final as well, in 2021. He (Venkatesh) was highly instrumental and terrific guy in the team. He had clearly given us an ultimatum that, 'If you don't pick me, I will be very sad'. So we didn't want him to be sad, and we're also very happy," said Mysore.

In the first play-off, when KKR faced SRH, Venkatesh played an unbeaten 51 to ensure they chased down the target with more than six overs to spare.

In the final against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Venkatesh pummelled an unbeaten 52 to ensure KKR got their hands on its third IPL title. He would be keen to replicate his performance and live up to his big price tag.

With ANI Inputs