Venkatesh Iyer once again failed to justify his hefty price tag, struggling with the bat against the Gujarat Titans at Eden Gardens. Signed for an eye-popping INR 23.75 crore by KKR, he’s quickly becoming one of the season's biggest disappointments. On Monday, he managed just 14 runs off 19 balls, with a disappointing strike rate of 73.68 in a chase of 199 runs. He had a tough time on a challenging pitch and didn’t manage to hit a single boundary during his innings.

While he did form a 41-run partnership with captain Ajinkya Rahane, his slow performance only added pressure on his teammate to take risks for runs.

As the defending champions, KKR expected more from him, but he has only accumulated 129 runs in 8 matches, averaging a mere 25.80.

His high price tag means all eyes are on him every time he steps up to bat, and the mounting pressure isn’t doing him any favors.

Following his lackluster performance against GT, fans took to social media to criticize his batting style during a challenging chase.

KKR faced an early setback as they lost their openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1) and Sunil Narine (17), during the powerplay, putting Ajinkya Rahane under pressure. However, Rahane rose to the occasion, scoring a determined half-century off just 36 balls. He kept the runs flowing while partnering with Venkatesh, who was having a tough time at the crease. Venkatesh's innings ended when R Sai Kishore bowled him out after he attempted a sweep over mid-wicket, only to be caught by Washington Sundar.

Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan continue to impress for GT

Batting first, the Gujarat Titans put up an impressive score of 198/3, thanks to strong performances from their opening duo, Shubman Gill (90) and Sai Sudharsan (52). Gill was on track for his first century of the season but fell short, scoring 90 off 55 balls after swatting a full toss from Vaibhav Arora right into the hands of Rinku Singh at deep square leg, missing out on the milestone by just 10 runs. His innings featured 10 fours and three sixes. Alongside Sudharsan, Gill formed a solid opening partnership, contributing 114 runs. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler had a decent start but was held back, finishing not out on 41 off 23 balls, with eight fours to his name and no sixes.

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