IPL Final: Venkatesh Iyer, Playoffs, And The Consistency Factor

After dominating, dismantling, destroying teams in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League, the Kolkata Knight Riders went on to win their third IPL title after humbling Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, May 26

Vignesh Bharadwaj

Updated on: 27 May 2024 12:14 am

Venkatesh Iyer celebrates his fifty runs | Photo: AP/Ajit Solanki

Well, the players were happy, overjoyed, expressing their emotions and a certain Venkatesh Iyer, as selfless as ever was singing Abhishek Nayar praises.

“Really happy with it. As Varun mentioned, Abhishek Nayar deserves all the credit in the world. Some contributions go unnoticed, I want to make sure they don't. This guy deserves all the credit in the world for the way he has been working for this franchise. This win is for the fans who turned up year after year and waited for ten years, Venkatesh Iyer said in the post-match celebrations.

The coaches do their bit, the management does it too, but at the end, they can only control things outside of the boundary rope, and inside it? It is the players who stack up numbers, come clutch and light up stadiums across the globe.

Is there no pressure? And does that not go up a notch in the IPL playoffs? Well, then came along Venkatesh Iyer, the one who was praising Abhishek Nayar for all the help behind the scenes, behind the camera.

The Venkatesh factor in IPL playoffs? Is it a thing? The left-hander Kolkata Knight Riders man has scored 212 runs in five playoff fixtures that includes four fifties among which three have been unbeaten knocks. Well, success came his way, and an odd failure too when he was out for just six against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator.

The other aspect that stands out is the balls that the runs have come in under IPL playoffs pressure:

55(41) Vs Delhi Capitals in Sharjah (Qualifier 2)
50(32) Vs Chennai Super Kings in Dubai (Final)
51*(28) Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Ahmedabad (Qualifier 1)
52*(26) Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai (Final)

The 52* from just 26 balls in the final was his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score in the playoffs, and only Suresh Raina has more fifty-plus scores in the playoffs with seven to his name.

Put these numbers together and open up the bigger picture, Venkatesh Iyer has been that injection that drives the fearless Knight Riders.