Former India player Aakash Chopra has wondered whether star all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer’s exclusion from the KKR’s playing combination in their IPL 2025 match against the SRH implies that their vice-captain will be released ahead of the next auction as well. He also added that KKR might consider buying him back for a cheaper price.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “The big news for me from this match was that they didn’t play Venkatesh Iyer. He was in the impact substitute’s list, but you didn’t get him to bat. You got Manish Pandey and Angkrish Raghuvanshi to bat, and you played Ramandeep Singh and Rinku Singh. You played everyone, but you left Venky out. Is that the indicator that Venky will be released next year? You will release ₹23 crore, and then you may want to buy him back at a lesser price. That is a possibility, but I feel we have got an indicator for next year.”

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Reflecting on SRH’s batting, Aakash Chopra added that last season’s runners-up posted massive totals easily when their batters played aggressive cricket.

“When Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Aniket Verma play well, what a team they are. They score 270-280 for timepass. When you score so many runs, you also win the game. Heinrich Klaasen scored a 37-ball century, the joint third-fastest. He has equaled Yusuf Pathan. Chris Gayle, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and then Yusuf Pathan and Heinrich Klaasen,” Aakash Chopra concluded.