They say time change a lot of things and if one team has done justice to this maxim, it is none other than Kolkata Knight Riders. However, a special mention must go to their newcomer, Venkatesh Iyer who scorched the best of the contest with his fiery brand of excellence.
After a woeful start to the match as Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock made merry early in the innings, the KKR bowlers reeled them back in comfortably as all they could manage was a modest total of 155.
The story of the batters that shifted the dynamics
Though in the initial glimpse it seemed like an even contest, Kolkata had other plans at the back of their mind for the reigning champions.
Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill went for the kill straight away. Iyer was once again on fire as he slaughtered the Mumbai bowlers at will.
Venkatesh Iyer slaughtered the bowlers in style
Ever since the second phase began, Iyer played a peach against Bangalore that saw him garnering an unbeaten 41 from 27 balls.
He upped the tempo by a couple of notches as Kolkata took on Mumbai. Chasing a total of 156, it was Iyer and Rahul Tripathi who simply kept on hammering the bowlers without any relent.
Before Bumrah got the better of him, he played an impeccable knock of 53 runs from just 30 balls with just four fours and three sixes.
More importantly, he didn’t make a single error in judgement as he almost played a clinically precise knock which can be labelled as immaculate.
The only mistake committed by him was on the last ball of his innings, when Bumrah got the better of him with a slower delivery.
Twitter and Kolkata fans were absolutely delighted to stay witness to the birth of a star that has completely changed their fortunes in a span of just two matches.
Even if Venkatesh Iyer fails in the remaining matches he has done enough to attract a large number of bids in the Big Auction in a few months. With teams looking to have a strong Indian core Iyer as an opener would be an attractive choice. Kudos to him. #KKRvMI
Advertisement— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) September 23, 2021
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Venkatesh Iyer already played 2 Pull shots for sixes after learning about it from Virat pic.twitter.com/h1IZdfIL13
— Virarsh (@Cheeku218) September 23, 2021
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Venkatesh Iyer is a special player.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 23, 2021
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KKR making MI struggle so so hard… wanted to watch this since so long! Venkatesh Iyer running between the wickets like he has a train to catch.. a train for KKR to the finals, a train for his career to the International T-20s ! π₯π pic.twitter.com/XnX6KrLFUl
— Neel Joshi (@neeljoshiii) September 23, 2021
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Fifty for Venkatesh Iyer from just 25 balls at a strike rate of 200 against a bowling unit lead by Bumrah. This has been some transformation from #KKR.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 23, 2021
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A big congrats Venkatesh Iyer for first half century in IPL and its come against mighty MI in his second game. π₯ππΌ
You are different. pic.twitter.com/I5bdhImLCE— π»πππππ α΅βΏβ±α΅Κ°α΅ α΅αΆ α΄α΄Κ (@srkian_Tanvir) September 23, 2021
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Standing ovation for Venkatesh Iyer
You did very very well man
A best knight in KKR armyπ@KKRiders pic.twitter.com/kHCZuRPQx5Advertisement— Sohail (@iamsohail__1) September 23, 2021
40+ In 1st Inning β
40+ In 2nd Inning βAdvertisementPlayers to achieve this Feat in IPL
Shaun Marsh
Robin Uthappa
Graeme Smith
Alex Hales
Venkatesh Iyer*#MIvKKR— S H E B A S (@Shebas_10) September 23, 2021
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Venkatesh Iyer π₯π₯
Choose your Mentor Wisely#MIvsKKR pic.twitter.com/7qPtf9wq2t— SanJOE π½ (@YaareKugaadali) September 23, 2021
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Even if Venkatesh Iyer fails in the remaining matches he has done enough to attract a large number of bids in the Big Auction in a few months. With teams looking to have a strong Indian core Iyer as an opener would be an attractive choice. Kudos to him. #KKRvMI
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) September 23, 2021
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