K olkata Knight Riders (KKR) broke the bank to acquire their star all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer on Day 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Venkatesh Iyer returns to Kolkata Knight Riders for a record-breaking Rs 23.75 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. A bidding war erupted between KKR, Luckn

Kolkata edged out Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in a fierce bidding war to acquire the 29-year-old Indian all-rounder. Iyer was the third most expensive player at the IPL 2025 mega auction, after Rishabh Pant (Lucknow Super Giants, INR 27 crores) and Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings, INR 26.75 crores)

Kolkata Knight Riders shelled out a massive price for Venkatesh Iyer, who fetched INR 23.75 crore. Iyer has played 51 matches for KKR since his debut back in 2021.

After being bought for ₹23.75 crore by Kolkata Knight Riders, Venkatesh Iyer expressed his willingness to take on the captaincy role.

In a bold and unexpected move, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise chose not to retain their 2024 IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer at the mega auction here and went for an all out bidding war against Royal Challengers Bengaluru to secure Venkatesh.

Venkatesh Iyer rejoins Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping Rs 23.75 crore at the IPL 2025 Auction, becoming the third most expensive buy. The all-rounder was instrumental in KKR's recent success, including their IPL 2024 victory.