Rajni fan Iyer nearly does a Rajni

The tilted head and lopsided eyebrow is straight from the Rajni stylesheet. And by means of this second leg of the IPL, Venkatesh Iyer has traversed an equally incredulous arc nothing wanting a film blockbuster – from a useful state group all-rounder, proper upto the IPL remaining. Almost pulled off a title run too.
Along the way in which, he has stepped out to hit Rabada for a big six, smacked Axar Patel, Adam Milne, Boult, and Bumrah round, used his toes deftly, studying the wily Ashwin, and within the first 10 overs of the ultimate, made Josh Hazlewood look pedestrian.
His lack of ability to complete the KKR chase leaves an enduring remorse, or the Rajni requirements of reaching solely the unattainable, may’ve even performed out in actual. His father Rajasekaran tells Express, that at residence everybody is anticipated to deal with the celebrity as ‘Rajni Sir’ – standing directions from the 25-year-old Venkatesh.
The flavour of the season, carries different outrageous tropes onto the sphere too. The shirts are by no means tucked in, he’ll ill-advisedly face a spinner with no helmet, he can throw scorchers from the deep outfield with each palms. And he’s a die-hard Rajnikanth fan.
Venkatesh Iyer additionally has this means to attain runs which has made him the discover of the season for Kolkata Knight Riders. If KKR managed to succeed in the finals of this IPL, his position on the high, had been important.
As the mud settles on this version, Iyer is sitting in his lodge room nonetheless rueing taking part in that shot to Chennai Super Kings’ pacer Shardul Thakur. He is regretting not ending the sport.
“As a set batsman I should have gone and finished both the games. It’s the main difference between a normal player and an extraordinary player. Extra-ordinary players do finish the game. I’m still thinking that I should have taken the game till the end, especially in the finals,” a disenchanted Iyer says. Further including, “I knew (Rahul) Tripathi is injured. The pitch was nice for batting and we knew we could chase it. It was a matter of the extra push.”
His thought course of is obvious, and like his batting his speaking doesn’t have ‘if’s’ and ‘if nots’. At 25, Iyer sounds extra mature than his counterparts. An MBA in Finance, he has stored his diploma apart, given up a suggestion from a multinational firm to play cricket. He says it was the bravest determination taken by his dad and mom to permit him to play cricket and never be bothered with what relations chattered.
Not hemmed in by teachers
Iyer’s household shouldn’t be in contrast to most South Indian households, who set numerous retailer on teachers, after which observe that by transferring overseas. Instead they wished their son to observe what he favored probably the most. Iyer was a shiny pupil and likewise cricketer. He wished to turn out to be a Chartered Accountant after his BCom at a later stage however he couldn’t as a result of if he enrolled himself into the CA Inter for the subsequent three years, he must work beneath a CA.
Instead whereas taking part in cricket, Iyer accomplished an MBA in finance and later was provided a job in Deloitte which implies he needed to be stationed between Bangalore or Hyderabad, and Iyer as soon as once more selected his cricket.
“His mother was firm on him following his passion. Job can wait, she wanted him to do things which he liked the most and he continued to play cricket. Look now his passion is paying off,” his father Rajasekaran stated.

The IPL has made him an in a single day star however Iyer wears his success calmly. Nothing has modified for KKR opener drastically. He explains, “Things have changed for my family. In South Indian families there is a thing that let the boy concentrate on his academics only. It takes courage for a parent to decide that her child will play cricket. Now my relatives are happy, so the smile which I see on my parents’ face makes me happy. ”
Cricket is an costly sport, particularly when you don’t have a lot monetary backing. Iyer’s father Rajasekaran is a Human Resources marketing consultant in a beverage firm and mom Usha is flooring co-ordinator in an Indore hospital. His father has labored in Bhopal, Dewas and now settled in Indore.
“My parents faced financial problems initially, as cricket in India is expensive. They had to work hard, at the same time there were societal problems. The burden of expectations are always very high. They (relatives) wanted results quickly but my parents didn’t relay those conversations on me,” Iyer remembers.

Iyer would have made his IPL debut in May itself had his teammate Varun Chakaravarthy not examined optimistic which was adopted by the IPL being postponed. The left-handed batsman had by no means imagined having such an ideal run within the UAE leg.
But how did cricket occur?
His father Rajasekaran remembers an incident which launched their youngster to cricket. “Once there was an India vs Australia match going on, Venkatesh was a big fan of Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly got out early and Venkatesh began crying. He even got sick that day. We told him not don’t worry he will score in the next game but he was upset for the next two days. So looking at the passion for the game, we enrolled him in the nearby nets,” his father narrates.Work on health
Two years in the past, Iyer felt the necessity to have health base. He referred to as his greatest good friend Suraj Thakoriya, who deliberate his weight loss program. “If I have to compete with others then my fitness needs to be at its prime. I’m a medium-pacer, so, many times, I need to bat the whole day and next day I have to bowl with the same intensity. I can only do that if my fitness is good. I increased my strength. I brought regularity in my fitness routine,” Iyer said.
Last 12 months when Madhya Pradesh coach Chandrakant Pandit determined to advertise his quantity six Iyer, the batsman harboured doubts. But it was a transfer which later proved to be career-changing for Venkatesh. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Iyer blasted 227 runs in 5 innings at a strike charge of 149.34. Later within the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, Iyer continued along with his type, walloping 198 in 146 balls in opposition to Punjab.
He was referred to as for KKR trials to Mumbai and later was picked in an public sale. Asked if he anticipated this success, he replies, “I never thought that I will have such a ride. Even if I wouldn’t have done well, I still would have enjoyed. It’s my first season of IPL, I had told myself that I won’t look at performance, instead I will give more importance to the process which has brought me here. I didn’t have any expectations, ki main itna run banaoonga, utne run maroonga. I just wanted to enjoy.”
Iyer did actually take pleasure in. When the KKR coach Brendon McCullum got here and instructed him to play freely, he did. Not many knew Iyer a month in the past. One month on, he’s with the Indian group as a participant who will help the Indian group in the course of the T20 World Cup.He met MS Dhoni, however couldn’t converse to him a lot. He met Virat Kohli, who instructed him significance of match health and how one can deal with stress.
He says he has the identical set of pals even now and some hundred unread messages. What’s not modified is his love for film star Rajnikanth. It gained’t be precisely unreal to seek out out now that each his heroes, Ganguly and Rajnikanth know precisely who Venkatesh Iyer is. Them, and the higher cricket universe.