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Venkatesh Iyer found a new home in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after getting sold to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for Rs 7 crore at the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The star all-rounder was one of the most expensive buys in the mega auction last year at Rs 23.75 crore, but failed to spark significant interest this time around.
RCB, who lost a bidding war for Iyer against KKR in the mega auction last year, finally managed to get the all-rounder for Rs 7 crore. Iyer will now play under his Madhya Pradesh teammate Rajat Patidar's captaincy at RCB, who are the defending champions heading into the next season.
Hours before landing a lucrative deal with RCB in the IPL 2026 auction, Iyer starred with the bat for Madhya Pradesh in their Super League clash against Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025. Opening the batting for Madhya Pardesh, Iyer smashed a blistering knock of 70 runs off just 43 balls against Punjab.
Iyer's 70 off 43 balls was laced with 8 fours and two sixes as he made a mockery of the Punjab bowling attack at the DY Patil Academy in Pune. The left-hander's attacking knock, coupled with cameos from the likes of Anilket Verma (31) and Mangesh Yadav (28), powered KKR to a big total of 225/8 on the board in 20 overs.
However, Madhya Pradesh ended up suffering a close 2-wicket defeat after Punjab ended up chasing the target with five balls to spare. But for Iyer, his sublime knock couldn't have come at a better time as it augured well for him ahead of the auction in Abu Dhabi, where RCB and KKR got involved in a mini bidding war for him.
Before Sunday, Iyer was struggling for MP in the SMAT 2025, having managed only 141 runs in nine matches. However, he managed to spark a turnaround with a whirlwind knock on the IPL auction day to land a good deal from RCB. Iyer has so far played 62 matches in his IPL career and has 1468 runs to his name at a strike rate of 137.22, including 12 fifties and a solitary century.
After letting go of Iyer, KKR, who headed into the IPL 2026 auction with the biggest purse of Rs 64.30 crore, splurged big money on Australia all-rounder Cameron Green and Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana. KKR signed Green for a whopping Rs 25.20 crore, making him the most expensive overseas player in IPL history.
KKR beat CSK in an intense bidding war for the signing of the Aussie all-rounder, who was touted by many to emerge as the costliest pick at the IPL 2026 auction. KKR also signed pacer Pathirana for a huge sum of Rs 18 crore, making him the most expensive Sri Lankan player in IPL history.
