3 min readMar 13, 2026 04:57 PM IST
Venkatesh Iyer, after receiving a humongous bid in the 2025 auction, went to Kolkata Knight Riders, but was not able to justify the price he was paid. However, come the auction for the 2026 season, his price had fallen significantly to 7 crores from 23.5 crores and was acquired by defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Former player for the franchise, Anil Kumble, predicted that Iyer might not start in the playing XI for RCB in the upcoming season.
“Not the starting XI. I don’t think he would be because you would still want the same starting XI. Devdutt Padikkal should play in the XI. He missed out on the last couple of important games for RCB because of injury. He is in outstanding form. So he will certainly take that role of that impact player, Devdutt batting and Suyash Sharma probably bowling,” the former RCB captain responded on Star Sports.
“That was how they had structured last season’s lineup. So in that lineup, unlikely, unless they look to go that extra batter sort of thing at the start of the season. Otherwise, I don’t see him in that starting lineup, but he is a wonderful guy to have in the squad because any moment you want to bring in an experienced batter, he is there for you. He is a left-hander. So he is a like-to-like for a Devdutt,” he added.
Kumble also pointed out that winning the back-to-back titles is not going to be easy for RCB and skipper Rajat Patidar. “It’s not going to be easy winning back-to-back titles. It’s not going to be that simple, but I think he has done well in the first season. When he was nominated the captain, all of us were a bit taken aback. Yes, he had the experience of captaining Madhya Pradesh, did well in domestic cricket, and was identified as the skipper for RCB,” he replied.
“He led really well in terms of the usage of resources that he had with the bowling lineup. Ultimately, RCB put together a really strong bowling unit. Their spinners sort of came to the party, and that to me was the differentiation. It will be challenging for him. You have won once. Now you need to win twice,” Kumble observed.
