'It’s Two Years Running We’ve Battled KKR For Venky': Andy Flower's First Reaction After RCB Snap Up Venkatesh Iyer At IPL Auction

Defending IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured Venkatesh Iyer for INR 7 crore at the IPL auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. He became RCB's most expensive signing, followed by Jacob Duffy, who was bought at his base price of INR 2 crore.

RCB Head Coach Breaks Silence After Acquiring Venkatesh Iyer

KKR shelled out a whopping 23.75 crore in the last mega auction at Jeddah, but the lanky batter couldn't justify his price tag, and he was eventually not retained by the IPL 2024 champions ahead of the auction. It was mooted that his former franchise would try to re-buy him at a cut price.

Head coach Andy Flower outlined their strategy to bid for Iyer, insisting they have been battling for two years with KKR for his services. Speaking on Jio HotStar, he said, “It’s two years running we’ve battled KKR for Venky—we both rate him highly, so it’s great to have him on board. We met him, chatted, and loved his competitive spirit, smarts, and leadership qualities for the dressing room and field. Looking forward to working with him.”

Venkatesh Iyer Triggered A Bidding War

Iyer has amassed 1,468 runs at an average of 29.12 in 56 IPL innings. He has scored 211 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year, including two half-centuries. he is likely to bat in the top order and could replace Mayank Agarwal who was not retained by the IPL franchise.

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It had seemed the talismanic batter would go unsold, but Lucknow Super Giants entered the fray, followed by Gujarat Titans, who also tasted the waters, but both backed out very quickly. KKR looked to be pretty adamanat but RCB eventually went on to win the race. A bidding war was triggered between KKR and RCB, and the latter went on to grab the Madhya Pradesh player for INR 7 crore, a 71% reduction from his previous IPL deal.

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