Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) signed Venkatesh Iyer in the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (December 16). They clinched his contract for Rs. 7 crore, giving the all-rounder a huge pay cut from his Rs. 23.75 crore signing at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the last season.
RCB had tried to sign Venkatesh Iyer last season as well, pushing his price well beyond what KKR would have expected. But the 2024 champions wanted to retain the all-rounder who had been with them for half a decade and ended up breaking the bank for him.
It didn’t work out at all for KKR. Venkatesh scored only 142 runs at an average of 20.28 with a strike rate of 139.21, without getting any opportunity to bowl either.
KKR didn’t help themselves in it. Many thought that after paying a premium for him, KKR would have made him the captain to replace Shreyas Iyer, considering he had also played a few games as the vice-captain in 2024.
