We're nearing the end of our conversation, already nearly 90 minutes long, and Venkatesh Iyer is getting concerned he'll be late for his team dinner and will have to pay a Rs 500 fine for it. It's January and Iyer is playing Ranji Trophy for Madhya Pradesh. More than the fine amount, what's worrying Iyer is his name being put on the defaulters' list by MP coach Chandrakant Pandit.

Discipline is a priority for Pandit, also the head coach at Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL's defending champions, who bought Iyer for a record sum at the mega auction in November. Earlier this month Iyer was appointed KKR's vice-captain for the 2025 IPL. Currently pursuing a PhD in finance, Iyer strongly believes in life outside cricket and talks about how that has in turn influenced his game. In the following conversation, he opens up about the role he wants to play in every team, coping with a career-threatening injury, and why he tells aspiring players not to ignore academics.

Minutes after you were bought for Rs 23.75 crore (about US$ 2.82 million) in the auction for the 2025 IPL, you were at a "loss for words". Did it feel like Santa Claus had come early? Have you now been able to process the enormous price tag?
I was excited about the auction - more than the money, it was about which team I will [get to play for]. For players like us, it's the mere opportunity of playing in the IPL, be it any team, [that's important]. But having played for KKR for four years and having seen the highs and lows of the game, having won the championship [in 2024], to being retained, to being released, to making my debut, there was a sort of emotional connection. I always had it at the back of the mind that KKR should go for me [in the auction].

When the auction started, I wanted to run out of the room, but my boys - Rajat [Patidar] and Avesh [Khan] [Iyer's Madhya Pradesh team-mates] - locked the door and made me watch. After a certain point, I was pretty relaxed [but] I was like: what's going on? It feels good when a certain team shows so much interest in you. I felt really happy that KKR has gone the distance for me and it's now my job to repay [the faith].

Similar to you, your namesake, Shreyas Iyer, didn't want to watch the auction and told us he went and hid in the bathroom instead. He said he was "gobsmacked" when Punjab Kings bought him for 26.75 crore (about $3.18m). At what point did you have the same feeling?
I was just waiting for my name [to come up]. It escalated to a certain amount very quickly. I did not know how to react. It was as if both KKR and RCB were in a trance to outbid each other (chuckles). But good for me. I was like, yeah, keep going, fine. It feels really good when your team shows so much faith in you that they want you back at any cost. It made me feel really proud of what I've been able to give them and with that comes a lot of responsibility.

Play 01:59

Venkatesh Iyer: 'I have to credit academics for how I think, how I approach life'

I got a call from my mom immediately after. She was like: "Enjoy this night. And you know that [KKR] have shown so much faith in you, [so] it's your job to pay them back. And be mindful about the fact that you are currently playing for Madhya Pradesh and [the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy] it's a very important tournament, so focus there." My mom is all about: keep your focus, keep your head, stay grounded and keep concentrating on what's in hand. My wife [Shruti] is the lucky charm, Santa Claus arrived early, as you said.

While RCB pulled out at Rs 23.25 crore ($2.76m), their director of cricket, Mo Bobat, said about you: "He can bat in the top order, he's left-handed, he's very experienced, and he's got a very consistent track record and his aggressive intent was exactly how we wanted to play." What does that tell you?
It tells me that I'm doing well and was sought after. But again, I feel consistency is the key. People do give some standout performances, but it's very important for you to be consistent in terms of the contributions you make. It is always misunderstood with the facts: how many runs you have scored, how many wickets you have taken. But I don't think it's about that. Consistency should be in terms of the impact you have created on a particular team - that might be just playing 15 balls in the powerplay and scoring those 30 runs or anchoring the innings when needed or chipping in with an over or two or giving suggestions to the captain or fielding in hot spots. These all come under "impact". I play cricket to create an impact on whichever team I'm playing for. I'm not big on a lot of runs and wickets. I feel that small contributions and impact on the game is what makes a team win a tournament. And I'm happy that was recognised.

You have now played four seasons of the IPL. Was there a turning point where you understood the value of having an impact as a player?
Domestic cricket is extremely important when it comes to all this. When I play for MP, there are players who are scoring a lot at the top and I get to bat somewhere in the middle. A lot of runs have been scored already. What am I supposed to do in the game? I need to score a quick 60 runs, or if there has been a collapse, I need to go steady the ship. or situations in general.

I don't think you will get to bat in a similar situation throughout the tournament - there will be different spheres of batting, there will be different tactics that you have to apply, different pitches you play on, different conditions. So it's about how quickly you respond to them and adapt your game. You can't say that I play in a certain way and play the same way everywhere. It really won't help you.

"Coming back from injury in 2023, I was lost, because I suffered a near career-ending one. The first thing the doctors told me is that it is very difficult for you to run again with the same intensity. I was shattered"

So spending a lot of time in domestic cricket allowed me to understand: because I knew that there are bulk scorers in my team, how do I stand out? I perform in both facets of the game, bat a bit, bowl a bit, make the team win. Domestic cricket teaches you a lot, not just about your game but how cricket in general is being played.

That's an interesting point you make because there is a strong perception, even among players , past and present, that domestic cricket is irrelevant.
Recently Varun [Chakravarthy] made a statement about how challenging Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is and you are seeing how he's performing at the India level.

What happens sometimes is, everyone knows you, so they also come with a lot of tactics. And you are not necessarily [always] playing on flat tracks. The conditions vary, the timings vary, and it becomes all the more important for you to stay competent and stay one step ahead of every opposition. Yes, you know who you are playing against, but you never know which new-ball bowler they have brought in or which new batsman might take the attack to you. So it gives you a chance to fine-tune your skills in every game and I feel a strong domestic structure is what makes India such a competitive cricketing nation.

You go to any state: you will find three to four people who have already scored 5000-6000 first-class runs but are yet to make their debut for India, which shows you the level of competition. And you need to turn up year after year, consistently score those runs in different situations. Sometimes you get to play in December, sometimes in September, in February. What the ball does in December is not what it does in February. What the ball does in the northern parts of India is not what happens in Kerala or Tamil Nadu. So it kind of teaches you to play in multiple conditions and create an impact in the game that way.

Iyer will now be playing his fifth season for KKR. Here, he talks to team owner Shah Rukh Khan after making 51 not out off 28 balls in the qualifier match against SRH last year Pratik Khot / © BCCI

I remember this game against Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala [in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy]. We got them all out for 160-odd and we were about 50 for 4. There was no play for the next two days because of snowfall, rain and bad light. On the fourth day we had to get [the first-innings lead] to get three points. Early morning we lost two more wickets, but I scored 72 and helped the team take the lead. I was really happy with the impact I had on the game. I knew the ball is swinging, so I had to adapt to it to bring out my counterattack.

Same goes for our game this season against Bengal in Indore, where the ball was seaming a lot. I had to play a lot of balls. I scored 50 [53 off 95 in the fourth innings]. Yes, the team didn't win, but the impact I had was very good and this can only happen in domestic cricket.

How do you find the balance between wanting to make an impact for your team in various ways versus scoring big runs?
I'm really big on the results that come our way. If we are playing the knockouts, your 20 or your 30 will be highlighted. I don't know how many runs Suryansh Shedge scored [in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy]. I don't think he scored 400-500 runs, but he had a massive impact. [Shedge, bought by Punjab Kings for the 2025 IPL, scored 131 runs at a strike rate of 251.92.] Everyone knows him now. Everyone knows that he was the one who gave Mumbai that edge over the others.

In the last IPL, Ramandeep Singh did not score 300-350 runs [he made 125 runs at a strike rate of 201.61 for KKR], but the impact he had on the team was massive and look at what he's got: an India cap. So I don't think that impact goes unnoticed, but again, it is up to you to understand what kind of impact you have to create.

"Who doesn't love to score big hundreds? But sometimes what makes you win tournaments, not just matches, is how you have responded to adverse situations"

If you are a top-order batsman, you need to score at least 300-400 runs [in a season] to show that, yes, you have had a positive impact on the team. In domestic cricket, Chandu sir [MP and KKR head coach, Chandrakant Pandit] is big on the fact that if you have made the game for your side, you better finish it. Don't leave it for others to finish. [Once] despite my scoring a solid 50, Chandu sir scolded me because I did not finish the game. In that moment it feels really bad that I have scored so many runs, so why am I not being appreciated, but in hindsight, I feel what he said is absolutely correct. If you have set up the game, you apply the finishing touches, you don't leave it for others. What if that person fails? What if it's not his day? That's a big, big lesson I've learned from Chandu Pandit sir.

You have featured in two IPL finals and shown you are not afraid to take risks. Can you talk about how you understood that taking risks, even if you failed in the process, is important in the long run?
It's a very good question. It's a question I keep asking my coaches: why do I have to take that risk? You have to practise a certain shot so many times that when pressure comes, it's not risk anymore. Gauti sir [Gautam Gambhir, who was KKR's mentor in the 2024 IPL] is very big on asking his players to practise those high-risk shots so that when the pressure is on you, you don't feel the risk anymore, it just comes naturally to you. I feel more than the score and more than the risk, especially in the 2024 final, my intention was to show everyone the way KKR had been playing throughout the tournament.

Yes, the target was just 113, but I did not want to finish the game in the 17th or 18th over because, (a) I did not want the tension or the stress, just wanted the game to be over quickly, and (b) this is the way that KKR batted throughout the tournament irrespective of the target, irrespective of batting first or second. It's a tactical approach towards the game, but this is how we played. This is how we wanted to entertain the crowd and that should not change even if the target is just 113 [they completed the chase in 10.3 overs]. Honestly, it would have been very easy for me to just take singles, get a 40 off 30 balls and end the game. But that's not how KKR played and that's not how KKR will play. We have played a brand of cricket that is entertaining, and we stick to it irrespective of the target.

Your innings in the qualifier (51 not out off 28 balls) and in the final (52 not out off 26) were similar. When did you succeed in overcoming the fear of failure in your batting?
As in life, fear of failure is always there. But the hope for success is higher, so why not give it a try? And the credit has to go to the [KKR] management on how they handled me - GG sir, Abhishek Nayar, and especially Chandu sir, for the way he talks to me. I bat like this in the Ranji Trophy as well and in [domestic] 50-overs matches. I like to take those risks. But yes, for a coach to explain when to take the risk, how to take it, and if the risk is correct or not at a particular period of time, that requires a lot of attention, and I feel Chandu sir has [done] that.

On his 52 not out of 26 balls in the 2024 IPL final: "This is how we wanted to entertain the crowd and that should not change even if the target is just 113. We have played a brand of cricket that is entertaining, and we stick to it" Pankaj Nangia / © Getty Images

The fear of failure has been there. Suddenly if you don't get runs in two innings, there will be a lot of scrutiny, a lot of criticism. But I feel the turning point in this year's [2024] IPL for me was the game against RCB at Eden Gardens. I was batting decently [during the season], but I was not getting a lot of runs. In that game I got only 16 off eight balls. It's not a massive contribution but that innings gave me a lot of confidence. It changed something inside me and that fear went away. All that I was looking forward [to] was to hit the ball again, and it's amazing what one innings can do to your confidence.

No one remembers it. You don't remember it (smiles). I remember it vividly because of the way I was hitting the ball that day. And that is what you need in a tournament like IPL. That is what you need in the middle of a domestic tournament, that one innings where you have hit the ball amazingly well and that brings the confidence.

Batting is just hitting the ball well. If you are hitting the ball well, you are in a good space. Again, the [team] management should know how to keep you in a good space. The fear of getting dropped, the fear of getting snubbed shouldn't come in, and that was never there in the KKR set-up.

It's also about reading the situation, which a player gets better at as you gain experience. During the 2023 IPL, while you were batting against CSK in Chennai, MS Dhoni moved a fielder and you got distracted and hit the ball straight to that fielder. Do you remember that dismissal?
Dhoni took out a fielder from deep square leg and placed him at short third, slightly away from the spot where short third usually is. The [very] next ball, I hit straight into short third's hands. Post the game I asked Dhoni why he placed that fielder in that spot and he had a proper answer for it. He was trying to understand the impact of the ball from my bat, the angles. His reading of angles is just out of the world, and he knew that if I hit this shot, it has to go in that direction, so he had a fielder put there. This is being proactive. This is real captaincy: understanding what a batter is doing.

"If a certain situation needs me to bowl six wide yorkers, I'll bowl them even if it's not my forte or my best ball. If the team wants me to do it, I have to"

That was the cunning of Dhoni. I could have waited for a couple of balls, but no, the next ball, I hit it there (chuckles) and it just happened. The cameras showed the exact picture of how the field changed and the very next ball I hit there. It is up to the batsman to understand why certain things are being done [on the field].

The 2023 IPL was a mixed season for you. You became only the second player to make a century for KKR after Brendon McCullum. That innings at Wankhede was a chaotic one and after it you said: "As far as this season goes, it's Venkatesh Iyer doing what's correct for the team, not individually." What was that about, and have you carried on with that mindset?
When I first came to KKR [in 2021], Baz [McCullum, KKR's head coach at that time] asked me what my goals were. I told him I want to be the second person to score a hundred because no one has scored a hundred for KKR after him. He was like, "Yeah, if you have the correct intent, you will end up scoring one, but by the way, you are not playing tomorrow." I was like: wow!

He wanted me to understand that scoring a hundred is not the only perspective. It's about how you can contribute to the team win. And when he brought me into the XI, it was all about me doing what's best for the team and that was playing less balls and scoring more runs.

I remember an innings against RCB [in the eliminator game], where we were chasing 128 [139] in Sharjah. I got out for 30 [26] off 30 balls. McCullum asked me: what were you doing? I said I wanted to be there till the end. He was like: "That is not your job. Your job is to score quick runs. If you want to do that, you play, otherwise you don't. We have so many players with us." I carried that with me.

Yes, things did not go my way in 2022, but coming back from injury in 2023, I was lost, because I suffered a near career-ending one. The first thing the doctors told me is that it is very difficult for you to run again with the same intensity. I was shattered. When I was able to bat freely again, I had no direction as to what to do and then Abhishek Nayar came into my life.

Scoring 16 off eight balls against RCB was a turning point for Iyer in the 2024 IPL. "It's not a massive contribution, but that innings gave me a lot of confidence. It changed something inside me and that fear went away" Ron Gaunt / © BCCI

What he taught me during that phase is what I have shown till date through my game. He always wanted me to play a certain way, which helps not just me but the players to follow [in the line-up], the player who's batting with me, and the team. Basically I became a follower that season rather than a leader (smiles). And once you accept it, you do whatever is best for the team. That might even be to sit out, make way for someone else, but you do what's best for the team and you do it selflessly.

When it worked, I was like: this is how I should play cricket, be it for Indore, for Madhya Pradesh, for KKR, for India. I'll do whatever is best for the team. If a certain situation needs me to swing at every ball, I will do it. If a certain situation needs me to bowl six wide yorkers, I'll bowl them, even if it's not my forte or my best ball. If the team wants me to do it, I have to. And then came the preparation for that. I can be asked to do anything. I could be asked to bat at three, to open, to stay in at six.

For example, for MP, we had a clear discussion to decide that Rajat Patidar would take care of the top and upper-middle order, with me being there with the middle and lower-middle order to apply the finishing touches. That is a role I enjoy and I did it. It would have been very easy for me to talk to Chandu sir and tell him, no, I want to bat in the top order. But that's what was best for the team.

And I kind of have enjoyed that. I have felt like it has increased my love for the game. I go to any player in the team, they love to spend time with me. They all feel that there is a lot of comfort with Venkatesh Iyer. So is the case in KKR. That way of playing cricket gives me more satisfaction than scoring runs and forgetting what has happened. I don't feel like that will take me forward. Again, these are all schools of thoughts. Different people have different perspectives, but I feel that if I play this way, I play for the team irrespective of what I'm doing.

"Once the IPL starts, who cares if I'm a Rs 20 lakh player or a Rs 20 crore player? I'm the player for KKR. I have to go out there and perform"

What was that injury?
I fell down a staircase and my legs [were pointing in the wrong direction]. It was very bad. I remember the doctors looking at my leg and [wondering] what happened. Once an injury happens, it changes your outlook towards life in general. You stop taking those risks, you stop doing things that might potentially lead to an injury.

The other day, in a match against Kerala, I twisted my ankle. The first thought that came to my mind was: not again, I don't want to go through that pain. I don't want to go through that rehab. Rehab is the toughest part, actually. Thankfully, it's much, much better. But such injuries give you trauma for a very, very long time.

It was an amazing journey wearing a size 13 shoe on one foot and 12 on the other. I hope it never happens again. It taught me a lot. Now that I look back at it, I just smile it off. I was like, wow, those six months were very tough. But it gave me a chance to spend a lot of time with my family, to attend a few marriage functions, which I have been missing for a long time, have good food. I am now extremely careful about how I get down the stairs. I ask my wife, I ask my nephew and niece to be careful while taking the stairs, such is the impact. It is a story I'll tell my kids - about how I suffered a horrible injury but still turned up to play for KKR and did well.

In your five playoff matches in the IPL, which includes the two finals, you have scored 234 runs at a strike rate of 149. Your average of 78 is the second best (for players who have played at least five such innings). Did you know that?
I'd heard that I have scored half-centuries in the playoffs but not [the in-depth numbers]. I remember the 2024 final because we won. And there was the qualifier against Delhi Capitals in 2021, where I scored 55 - that was my first Man-of-the-Match, so I remember that.

I don't consider big matches as big matches. They are just games you have to win. I feel the more you think about the fact that it is a big match and what will happen if you do well - my career will escalate, this, that, you are just carrying a lot of excess baggage. The more you feel like, no, this is just a game that we have to win, a game that I have to go and do what's best for the team, then the fact that it is a big game will go away.

When batting first, you have scored 599 runs in 24 innings at a strike rate of 136.1. When chasing, you have 727 runs in 25 innings at a strike rate of 138. In your last two seasons, your strike rate has risen to 148.5 batting first and 155 batting second. Clearly, this is the result of the impact you spoke about earlier?
It's also being able to understand how to manoeuvre the middle overs. Middle overs are extremely important and you have to understand what are your shots that involve lesser risk, and to play them freely. That is where the strike rate sometimes drops when you tend to take a few balls [to get in]. That's a phase I've been working on consistently - when there are boundary riders but you still have to get your boundaries. You've got to find those gaps and when the ball is in your arc, you have to hit out. I was not aware of these numbers about bating first and chasing. I am not big on numbers.

You have an MBA in finance and you claim you are not big on numbers?
(Laughs) No, but honestly, I really don't understand all that. I feel like if your 15-20 runs have benefited the team, then you have won. It might not be my best innings. The hundred I scored - KKR lost [that match]. I knew that I could have scored 20-30 more. If I had, maybe the scenario would've been different.

This paradigm shift has come where I've understood that contributing to the team is important, not being the standout performer. Yes, I want to do that as well, but you have to chip in with your performances and leave an impact on the game. When the game ends, people should be talking about how if Venkatesh Iyer would not have scored those 20 runs, the game would've been different, or about how important the 16th over that he bowled was. How important were the two boundaries that he stopped? How important was the catch he took? These are the sort of impacts I want to create on a game. And if I'll be doing that, I'll be good. I'll sleep peacefully.

In hindsight, you probably wouldn't have slowed down between 87 and 100, right?
Yeah. Again, I did not want to do that. The scoreboard was off, so I don't know about it (chuckles), but MI bowled well. Give them some credit, yaar. We were not able to get boundaries, but had I found a way to hit two more, maybe the story would have been different.

Is continuing to study a way to switch off from the game?
Definitely. In England, mental health is a huge thing. No one ignores that aspect of the game. We all say that cricket is a game of intelligent people. It's played [in the head]. How well are we understanding that something's wrong? We call it a simple word - he is "crazy". In India, that's how it is. You have to live with it.

So it's very important for you to give yourself that space where you think about the game in the right manner. You think about the game the way you want to think about it. You don't turn up for the game just for the sake of it. You don't bat just for the sake of it. You need to be in that head space. And switching off from that is extremely important. That might be at a daily level, weekly level, monthly, yearly, whatever. But it has to be there. For me, education was that. Now I've become a little lazy, but I feel education gave me the chance to switch off from the game and then go back with a fresh mind again.

What is the subject of your PhD?
I'm pursuing my PhD in finance from DAVV University [Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya]. I've just written the synopsis. I haven't had time to sit down and write my thesis and I missed my coursework exams. Once I do that, if my topic gets approved, I can start my research on it.

Batting with Andre Russell against Punjab Kings in the 2024 IPL. Iyer talks of being confident speaking up in the dressing room. "You can't just go there and say s**t. Once you know what you are saying has some justification, you shouldn't hesitate in talking" Saikat Das / © BCCI

Do you keep a journal?
Yeah, I have to go write [an entry after this interview]. We have a game tomorrow (chuckles). It is my dad's habit. He had a nine-to-five desk job. I visited his cubicle once in his office. It was so systematic: things to do, those sticky notes, all that. I was like: I want that. But it's a lot of work, so I maintain a journal because cricket has shelf life. A guy can't play till 60. So I need to keep adding value to my personality, to my game, be it 0.0001% every day, but I want to keep adding value to it. Again, Chandu sir is really big on writing things down. And if you keep writing certain things, it goes into your muscle memory faster.

What was the entry on November 24, 2024, the IPL auction day?
I actually wrote: "Oh s**t." I wrote something else [as well], but I can't say that (laughs).

I actually wrote that I was very happy looking at the other boys. I was very happy that they are happy for me. I felt like, okay, I've achieved something. I've achieved good relations with my fellow cricketers, with my colleagues, and I wrote down what my mom told me: "They've [KKR} trusted you. It's time for you to repay them. Be honest to what you're doing and God will take care of you. And enjoy the night." I enjoyed that night, not just because I was picked, but because a couple of other cricketers from my state were picked.

When a youngster enters an IPL franchise set-up, especially if it's a star-studded team like yours, there's a tendency for them to be very reserved. But those we've spoken to within the team say you were always this confident person, very sure of what you were saying. Do you remember an instance or two from your early days where you put a point across and it was well received?
Before I made my T20I debut, we had an Indian team meeting discussing why we did not win the [2021 T20] World Cup. We wrote down a lot of points. When it was my turn to speak, the point I made was written on top [of the whiteboard]. I felt really proud.

"A guy can't play till 60. So I need to keep adding value to my personality, to my game, be it 0.0001% every day, but I want to keep adding value to it"

When it comes to KKR, we played in Chennai against RCB and we lost that game. We needed some 40-odd runs in two overs. Andre Russell was not hitting the ball really well, but that game, he hit a few [two]. No one used to talk to Dre a lot [after a defeat]. He has that intimidating personality, especially the Indian youngsters will not go to him. I went to him and I confidently told him, "Yes, we've lost this game, but I think this game is a big confidence-booster for you because of the way you batted. I think this game was very important for you from the tournament perspective."

He stood up, shook my hand and said, "Thanks, big man. I really appreciate it." You have to talk sense, basically. You can't just go there and say s**t. You have to make good points, correct points, and once you know what you are saying has some justification and logic, you shouldn't hesitate in talking. And thanks to Russell for taking it in the right spirit. That gave me a lot of confidence to feel like, okay, this is my team. People respect me here.

What was the point on the whiteboard you made in Indian dressing room?
I told the Indian team clearly: "See, I'm sitting with a lot of superstars here. We are talking about powerplay, we are talking about finishing, we are talking about death bowling. You know suppressed under all these numbers, tactics, ideas is the fact that we love this game and we have the opportunity to represent a country of 1.4 billion people. And in that, sometimes we forget to enjoy the game. So why don't we go out there and enjoy playing in each other's company and enjoy this game?" And Rahul sir [Dravid, India head coach then] wrote on the whiteboard: "Enjoy the game."

We haven't spoken about the money yet. The price tag of Rs 23.75 crore is massive. Do you agree that there will be a certain pressure on you to perform? And what makes you confident that you can handle it?
Definitely, I'd lie if I say that there is no price-tag pressure. We all live in a social-media world. It's up to me how I take that pressure. The way I look at it, how much confidence KKR have in me, all it does is motivate me to do something special for my team. The way I play will not change. Once the IPL starts, who cares if I'm a Rs 20 lakh player or a Rs 20 crore player? I'm the player for KKR. I have to go out there and perform. Even if I would have been picked for Rs 20 lakhs [about $24,000 at the time of the auction], I will still have to do it.

On the need to switch off from the game: "Now I've become a little lazy, but I feel education gave me the chance to switch off from the game and then go back with a fresh mind again" Tamal Das / © BCCI

But I have my task cut out in terms of how I behave off the field, where I put my energies. Going out there and performing for my side in the way that I know best. I don't want to change anything. I've played my game in a certain way and that is what I'd like to take to this IPL as well. Rest, I'll just leave it to my preparation and the confidence I feel.

You have previously said that for every situation in life, there is a Rajinikanth line. What do you think he would say about where you are right now in your life?
I have had my fair share of struggle. A lot has gone wrong. When I scored a lot of runs back in Under-19, no one cared about me, did not pick me in the teams. So looking [back] at all that, when Thalaivar said in Baashha: "Aandavan nallavangala sodhipaan aana kai vida maatan. Kettavangalukku alli alli kodupaan aana kadaisila kai vittuduvaan. [God will test good people but won't let go of their hand. He'll give heaps to bad people, but in the end he'll let go of their hand]."

Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor and Shashank Kishore is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

 

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