In the lop-sided summit clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Chepauk, KKR demolished the opposition by eight wickets to lift their third IPL title.
After successes in 2012 and 2014 under Gautam Gambhir, KKR laid hands on the coveted IPL trophy after a gap of 10 years and under 29-year-old Iyer.
And soon after the win, Iyer’s 2015 post regarding his graduation resurfaced on social media.
After being ignored by a BCCI central contract earlier this year and then overlooked for the T20 World Cup side, the title triumph comes as a big personal win and a morale booster for Iyer.
After Legendary MS Dhoni (CSK), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Gautam Gambhir (KKR) and Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans), Iyer joined the list of Indian captains with IPL titles.
In the final against Sunrisers, Mitchell Starc bowled a sensational opening spell to fire KKR to their third title.
Kolkata bowled out Hyderabad for IPL’s lowest total of 113 in a final as Australia’s left-arm quick Starc returned figures of 2 for 14 to live up to his top billing in the world’s most lucrative T20 tournament.
Starc went to Kolkata for a record USD 2.98 million in the December auction and ended the IPL with two stellar performances, including a match-winning 3 for 34 in the first play-off to hammer the same opponent.
Kolkata’s batsmen had it easy and despite Sunil Narine’s early departure, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made 39, and Venkatesh Iyer, on 52 not out, helped the team home with 9.3 overs to spare after a partnership of 91.
Iyer, a left-handed batsman, reached his 50 in 24 balls and hit the winning runs to trigger celebrations for Kolkata, who remained the most dominant team after they ended top of the table with 20 points in the league phase.
(With inputs from agencies)
