The second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 has been going pretty well for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as they have in a much comfortable position as compared to the first phase. They did not start the tournament on strong terms but it did pick up at the latter stages of the first leg. However, this IPL has been a unique one for KKR regarding their new recruits and one of them has been Venkatesh Iyer.

Venkatesh Iyer is enjoying a purple patch in his career despite playing his debut IPL season. Hedoesn’t even have much experience in first-class cricket as well as he has hardly played ten matches in first-class cricket. He has shown his quality with both bat and bowl as well as fielding. The youngster could soon be called up to the India A team.

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Former Indian cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar has given his opinion on the new star Venkatesh Iyer. The Mumbaikar feels that the player is a gem and there is no going down for him from here. Sanjay also said that Iyer could invite massive bids in the mega auction of 2022. However, the mega auction is just months away with two news teams making their way into the Indian Premier League.

Describing the same, Sanjay Manjrekar said, “I’m thinking 12-14 crores because this is not a kind of a fluke show. I was looking at his First-Class numbers and his List A record is outstanding. His average is 47, strikes at 92. Plus, he is a bowler, and in the last match, he has shown that he can bowl the tough overs too. So he is somebody who is going to fetch a very high price.”

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He further added, “Today, I focussed on the way he bats. Very interestingly, he bats a lot on the backfoot. Looks to pull, play the cut. I see him more as a real qualified T20 game-changer than somebody having a couple of good weeks.”