
Madhya Pradesh suffered a massive injury scare with respect to their star all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. Iyer, who came in to bat at No 6, twisted his ankle just two balls into his innings in the sixth-round Ranji Trophy clash against Kerala in Trivandrum on Thursday, January 23. Iyer was visibly in?excruciating pain as he lay on the ground for a few minutes before being helped to limp off the field.?
At first the injury looked really bad was Iyer too seemed a bit frustrated indicating that it could be something major. However, in a good piece of news for both Madhya Pradesh and Kolkata Knight Riders, who splurged Rs 23.75 crore for him at the IPL auction, the all-rounder returned to bat as the visitors found themselves in a precarious position.
The visuals from the dressing room after more than a couple of hours showed Iyer having warm-ups, before he got ready to come back to the field. The extent of the injury might not be as serious as it looked initially as Iyer was moving well after return but the picture will get clearer, probably after the scans. Kerala, led by Nidheesh MD were all over Madhya Pradesh like a rash as they reduced Madhya Pradesh to 117/8 before Iyer and Avesh Khan with their unbeaten stand took the score beyond 150.
KKR will hope everything's fine
Iyer with the money being spent on him, became the fourth-highest-paid cricketer in IPL history ever after a big payday in Jeddah and is likely to be the defending champions' captaincy candidate ahead of the IPL 2025. Iyer had a terrific 2024 season, where he became the enforcer at No 3 in the batting order and showed his temperament by smashing fifties in the qualifier and the final. Iyer has had a fantastic domestic season so far and would hope that the injury doesn't ruin what's to come in the next few months.