Kolkata Knight Riders batter Venkatesh Iyer, who was bought for a mammoth Rs 23.75 Crore in the mega auction, failed to score big once again during the IPL 2025 encounter against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday. Venkatesh’s price tag made him a significant player for KKR but he has been quite disappointing in this year’s competition till now. He scored just 135 runs in 9 matches ahead of the DC clash and on Tuesday, he was dismissed by Axar Patel for just 7. Social media users were not happy with his disappointing run and Venkatesh was roasted massively over his form as well as his extravagant price tag.

Venkatesh Iyer is nothing short of a ₹23.75 crore scam.

Clueless, spineless, and a walking wicket — he’s dragged KKR down all season. Time to dump the fraud. pic.twitter.com/1cJuJzTwWJ

— StarcyKKR (@StarcKKR) April 29, 2025

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have included uncapped left-arm spinner Anukul Roy as an unchanged Delhi Capitals (DC) won the toss and elected to bowl first in match 48 of the IPL 2025 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

Disappointed with you, Venkatesh Iyer. You are the weak link this team. Just see how it was nicely set up. And he destroyed it. Every bit of it.

— Nadim. (@nadimspeaks) April 29, 2025

DC have 12 points in nine matches, but they ended up on the losing side in two out of three matches held on their original home ground in IPL 2025. A win will help them go to 14 points and get their second win of the season in New Delhi.

After winning the toss, skipper Axar Patel said, “It becomes easier to bat in the second innings because of the dew. I think it’s a slow wicket, doesn’t look dry and looks like a 190-200 pitch.”

“Will assess the conditions and try to restrict them to a lower total. You need to stay in the present. We wanted to focus on the process, not worry about the result. Need to execute our plans.”

KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said Roy comes in for pacer Vaibhav Arora, who is now in the impact substitutes list. The defending champions have just seven points from nine games and need wins aplenty to stay in contention for a spot in the playoffs.

“It’s hard to read the wicket, I thought the left-arm spinner will be a good option on this surface. We need to win five out of five, as simple as that. We are looking to play one game at a time and we will move forward accordingly. It’s hard to read this wicket. Need to adapt to the conditions and assess quickly,” he said.

Tuesday’s game will be played on pitch number five, square boundaries are at 63m and 62m respectively, with the straight boundary standing at 67m. Commentators Ian Bishop and Nick Knight reckoned the pitch looks more compact, as it has a bit of a sheen.

(With IANS inputs)