During an appearance on Aakash Chopra's podcast, Venkatesh Iyer reflected on the relentless criticism he absorbed from Kolkata Knight Riders supporters after the franchise retained him and allowed Shubman Gill to depart for Rs 8 crore to Gujarat Titans ahead of IPL 2022. Fans routinely left trolling remarks whenever Gill reached three figures, comparing the two players unfavorably. Iyer eventually moved on mentally from KKR before the IPL 2026 auction, despite having previously been repurchased by them for Rs 23.75 crore and speaking directly with co-owner Shah Rukh Khan about retention decisions. He subsequently joined defending champions RCB, where he scored 209 runs in seven matches to h…
Key points
Venkatesh Iyer endured targeted online backlash for several years due to Kolkata Knight R…: Venkatesh Iyer endured targeted online backlash for several years due to Kolkata Knight Riders' 2022 player retention choices.
The batter chose to part ways mentally with Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2026 a…: The batter chose to part ways mentally with Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2026 auction process.
Joining Royal Challengers Bengaluru gave Venkatesh Iyer a fresh environment alongside a p…: Joining Royal Challengers Bengaluru gave Venkatesh Iyer a fresh environment alongside a passionate fan base that actively worshipped team jerseys.
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Venkatesh Iyer has opened up about the prolonged online backlash he faced from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) supporters following the franchise's decision to retain him while releasing
Shubman Gill ahead of IPL 2022. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter revealed that the criticism has continued over the years, with fans still targeting him whenever Gill scores a century.
Gill was released by KKR ahead of the 2022 season and subsequently became one of the three players drafted by the newly formed Gujarat Titans (GT), who secured his services for Rs 8 crore alongside
Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan.
Speaking in a podcast with Aakash Chopra, Venkatesh recalled how KKR supporters have repeatedly brought up the franchise's decision, making him a target of social media trolling.
"I have been subject to a lot of hate for a long time. Even till date, if Shubman is getting a hundred; you go to a KKR page, people would be commenting, 'in search of gold, we lost a diamond' and all of that stuff," Venkatesh said.
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