Venkatesh Iyer opens up about mental acceptance after being released by KKR

According to a report by Aaj Tak, Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, while sharing his past experience associated with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), stated how he was targeted on social media after Shubman Gill was released from the team. He said that as soon as Shubman hits a century, some KKR supporters start taking digs at him, and this trend has been going on for many years.

Speaking on former Team India cricketer Akash Chopra's podcast, Venkatesh Iyer stated that he had to endure a lot of hate for a long time. He added that even today, whenever Shubman scores a century, people comment on KKR's page that in search of gold we lost a diamond.

In fact, Kolkata Knight Riders had released Shubman Gill ahead of IPL 2022. After this, the new team Gujarat Titans (GT) acquired him for ₹8 crore. Shubman subsequently took over the captaincy of Gujarat and consistently impressed with his batting. On the other hand, some KKR fans started holding Venkatesh Iyer responsible for the franchise's decision.

According to a report by Aaj Tak, Venkatesh Iyer also spoke about the experience of being released by KKR ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. He stated that he also met the franchise co-owner Shah Rukh Khan and was hoping for a change in the decision.

Now playing for RCB, Venkatesh Iyer was included in their team by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2026 auction. His experience with the new franchise has been quite different. Mentioning the passion of Bengaluru supporters, he stated that some fans even worship the RCB jersey before matches.

Venktesh Iyer said that you will not believe it, but I have seen people worshipping the RCB jersey before a match. This was something different and the passion of the fans is on a different level.

In the initial matches of IPL 2026, Venkatesh Iyer had to sit on the bench. Later, he got an opportunity as an impact substitute. In one match, he scored an unbeaten 29 runs off 15 balls, helping the team reach a score of 201/8, although RCB faced defeat. Against Punjab Kings (PBKS), he played a brilliant knock of unbeaten 73 runs off 40 balls. Throughout the season, Venkatesh Iyer scored 209 runs in seven matches at an average of 52.25 and contributed to RCB's second consecutive title victory.