By Admin 
Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble has claimed that Venkatesh Iyer will not be able to make a place in the playing eleven of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Let us remind you that RCB had bought Iyer in the mini auction by bidding Rs 7 crore, but Kumble’s claim has created a sensation in the cricket world even before IPL 2026.
While discussing a show on Geo Star, Anil Kumble said that the plan of the RCB team was to maintain continuity within the team and not to make any sudden changes. Anil Kumble said, “Venkatesh Iyer will not get a chance in the playing eleven of RCB initially. You would not want to create doubt in a trophy-winning team.”
Kumble also talked about RCB’s auction strategy. He told that the franchise wants to show confidence in the young players. According to Kumble, RCB did not buy leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi so that no doubt arises in the mind of Suyyash Sharma who was already in the team.
Venkatesh Iyer was released by KKR before the IPL 2026 mini auction. By releasing him, KKR’s purse was emptied by Rs 23.75 crore. Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants had also shown interest in buying Venkatesh Iyer. Whereas Kolkata Knight Riders did not consider it right to bid more than Rs 6.80 crore for him. Finally RCB bought him with a bid of Rs 7 crore.
In his IPL career, Venkatesh Iyer has so far scored 1468 runs in 56 innings. His strike rate in IPL has been more than 137 and in this short career he has scored one century and 12 fifties. Iyer was a flop in IPL 2025, in which he was able to score only 142 runs in 7 innings.
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