Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opener Venkatesh Iyer registered a score of 53 runs off only 30 balls against a strong Mumbai Indians (MI) bowling line-up. Something which garnered praise from former cricketers like Irfan Pathan and Matthew Hayden.

Speaking on Star Sports’ post-match show, Irfan stressed the fact that Iyer didn’t sit on his laurels against RCB and played with the same mindset and turned up again against Jasprit Bumrah and company.

Venkatesh Iyer continued from where he left off in the previous game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). As he raced to his maiden IPL fifty during the ongoing second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

VENKATESH IYER 💜

He's not letting any bowler settle & attacking them right from the word go! Scored a boundary in at least the 3rd ball off every bowler (except H.Patel)

Today he scored a 6 off the first balls he faced from Boult & Milne and a 4 off Bumrah#VenkateshIyer pic.twitter.com/AWaS2TseY3

— Pradeep Krishna M (@PradeepKrish_m) September 23, 2021

Former cricketers Matthew Hayden hailed the temperament shown by Kolkata Knight Riders opener Venkatesh Iyer in the team’s win over defending champions Mumbai Indians.

In the first match, he showed a lot of character. He showed some of the shots as well, cover drive and all. But there is always this question in your mind as a young player, what is going to happen in the next match. Who is going to turn up? Is it the same guy who is going to turn up?” he said.

“He did, he actually turned up better, especially against Bumrah, against Boult. Against the Mumbai Indians bowling line-up, he showed a lot of character. There is a lot more we are going to see of Venkatesh Iyer in the future,” he explained.

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