"Best thing that could have happened to RCB this year" - Fans troll Venkatesh Iyer for another failure in MI vs KKR IPL 2025 clash

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Venkatesh Iyer endured another difficult outing with the bat in his side's third IPL 2025 clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on March 31. The 30-year-old dominated the headlines during the off-season when he was acquired by KKR for a whopping ₹ 23.75 crore at the 2025 auction.

However, the pressure of living up to the price tag has seemingly weighed on Iyer as he has recorded single-digit scores in both his innings. The southpaw was cleaned up by Krunal Pandya for a nine-ball six in KKR's opening encounter against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Iyer fared no better in the ongoing MI clash, nicking a short delivery on the body to be dismissed for three off nine balls by Deepak Chahar. The left-hander was a vital cog in KKR's title run in 2024, scoring 370 runs in 15 outings at an average of 46.25 and a strike rate of 158.79.

However, his dismal start to IPL 2025 has fans on X slamming KKR and the batter himself with the following reactions:

"The best thing that could have happened to RCB this year was missing out on Venkatesh Iyer. Below average player getting £2m."

Fans continued slamming Venkatesh Iyer for his dismal showing, saying:

"Venkatesh Iyer departs at 3 runs. Absolute blunder by KKR at the auction. RCB was bidding hard for him. KKR should've withdrawn, letting us re-sign Salty. This is just utter woke shit. Better bring in Manish Pandey at this point & give my boy, Gurbaz a chance."

"Venkatesh Iyer at 23.75 cr. No matter how good he performs. That’s not a justice to this price tag. And he would never perform in such a way anways… that would justify this tag," tweeted a fan.

"If you spend 23 crore on a player like Venkatesh Iyer, you should be banned not only from entering Wankhede but also from watching cricket," a fan said.

KKR collapse against MI after Venkatesh Iyer's early departure

KKR's batting performance mirrored Venkatesh Iyer's sorry stay at the crease as they were bowled out for a dismal 116 in 16.2 overs. After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, KKR lost Sunil Narine in the very first over for naught.

That set the tone for the disaster to follow as KKR lost batters at regular intervals with no batter crossing 30. The defending champions were reduced to 45 for 5 in seven overs before eventually getting bowled out for a sub-120 total.

For MI, IPL debutant Ashwani Kumar was the star of the show with incredible figures of 4 for 24 in three overs. He was well-supported by the other five MI bowlers, with each picking up at least a wicket.

KKR came into the clash having beaten Rajasthan Royals (RR) for their first win of IPL 2025. Meanwhile, MI suffered crushing losses in their first two matches and will look to complete a relatively straightforward chase to open their account in the wins column.