Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 4 (ANI): Venkatesh Iyer defined what aggression means to him and the Kolkata Knight Riders after outwitting the free-scoring Sunrisers Hyderabad with an all-round show in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the iconic Eden Gardens.
The record signing of the defending champions, Venkatesh, kicked off the 18th edition of the cash-rich league with a string of low scores. In his first two outings, KKR’s vice-captain registered just 3 and 6 before breaking the shackles against the Sunrisers.
After Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s dismissal, the Knight Riders tottered at 106/4 in the 13th over. Venkatesh upped the ante and fired a blistering 60 from 29 deliveries at a rollicking strike rate of 206.90, studded with seven boundaries and three towering maximums.
His single-handed effort, combined with Rinku Singh’s scorching 32*, lifted the defending champions to 200/6, a total 80 runs better than what the visitors could achieve.
“It’s very important for us to show positive but correct intent. If we are 50/6 and I still go and tonk everything, that’s positive, but that’s not correct. Aggression does not mean tonking every ball for sixes,” he told reporters in the post-match press conference.
“It’s about how you understand the conditions and how you are able to maximize the conditions in your favour. And that is what aggression actually is. We don’t want to be the team that scores 250 when we’re playing well, and when we’re not, we get out for 70. We want to be a team that understands the pitch and the conditions quickly. To assess the par score and try to make 20 runs above par,” he added.
Despite putting up a competitive total on the board, Venkatesh acknowledged that they didn’t feel too comfortable about it, especially against prolific Sunrisers. He bestowed praise on Vaibhav Arora for his Player of the Match spell in the powerplay that shifted the tides in their favour.
“Even after scoring 220, sometimes we feel that they can chase it,” he said. “But we always knew that a team which is ultra-aggressive always carries the risk of getting wickets. That’s what we wanted to exploit. We have Vaibhav Arora, who bowls in the powerplay to pick wickets, and he did that. A team that hits every ball also has the chance of going down early. And that’s what we wanted to exploit,’ he said.
Vaibhav rattled Hyderabad’s top order in the powerplay, removing explosive southpaws Travis Head (4) and Ishan Kishan (2) cheaply. He returned to the attack in the middle overs and outmanoeuvred the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen to return with figures of 3/29.
Vaibhav’s influential spell set the tempo for Kolkata as they breezed past the Sunrisers to secure a comfortable 80-run victory and move to the fifth spot with four points. (ANI)
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