Who is Venkatesh Iyer? Five unknown facts about KKR's latest debutant

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman Venkatesh Iyer h left fans impressed with his blistering knock of 41 runs on his IPL 2021 debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on September 20. On Friday, he returned to fields will anor stunning performance smashing 53 runs off 29 balls, studded with six fours and two sixes in his innings against Mumbai Indians (MI). 

26-year-old, who was handed his maiden cap for franchise ahe of UAE leg of IPL 2021, has been roped into team on back of his strong domestic records. cricketer h amassed a mammoth 198 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy while playing against Punjab in latter half of February 2021. Here are five lesser-known facts about KKR sensation. 

Very bright at studies

Born in a Tamil-speaking family in Indore, Venkatesh Iyer revealed that he was always a bright student and would have likely ended up at an IIT if re was no cricket in picture. He told espncricinfo, "I decided to give up my CA and pursue an MBA in finance. Honestly, I didn't have to put in a lot of effort to manage both. I'm not bragging, I've always been a bright student..." He ded, "H re been no cricket, I would have landed in an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) or IIM (Indian Institute of Management)."

Chose cricket over CA Finals  

Iyer shared that h topped his intermediate (senior-secondary) examinations. He was getting rey to enrol for a B.com degree, while simultaneously preparing for CA Finals. However, at one point, it was a choice between appearing for eir CA finals or Cricket in 2016. cricketer chose to pick latter.

Gave up a job offer at Deloitte

He has also disclosed he h landed a job in multinational accounting firm- Deloitte in 2018, which is known as one of 'big four' in field. However, because he wanted to pursue cricket, he gave up offer. He me his Ranji Trophy debut for Mhya Presh shortly after.

Mor encouraged him to pursue sricket

Although KKR sensation hails from an orthodox South Indian family, his mor strongly encouraged him to pursue cricket. "It's generally or way round, especially in orthodox South Indian families, where parents push kids to focus on studies. In my case, my mor pushed me towards playing cricket," he told espncricinfo.

Big Rajinikanth fan

When it comes to his interests outside of acemics and cricketer, Iyer is a big Rajinikanth fan and never misses a Thalaivaar movie. “(I am) a Thalaivar (boss) devotee. I can watch his movies ‘n’ number of times. He’s a legend," he shared in an interview.