Hyderabad: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer who was bought by a franchise in the recently held IPL 2025 mega auction for a price of ₹23.75 Crores has highlighted the importance of education in a cricketer’s life. He also revealed that he is pursuing PhD in Finance currently. After completing his MBA in Finance in 2018, Venkatesh received an offer from Deloitte. However, he decided to turn down the offer. The all-rounder wanted to focus on his cricket.
Venkatesh stated in an interview that he would be soon called a ‘doctor’.
"I want cricketers to educate themselves not just with cricketing knowledge, but general knowledge as well. If you can complete your graduation or post-graduation, you definitely should. I am pursuing my PhD (finance) now. You will be interviewing me as Dr Venkatesh Iyer next time!" Venkatesh told Indian Express in an interview.
At the auction table, KKR and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were engaged in an intense bidding war to acquire the services of Venkatesh Iyer. The 29-year-old highlighted the importance of education in a cricketer’s life.
"I come from an orthodox family, so it is tough to convince middle-class parents that I will pursue only cricket. But it was the other way around. I was big on academics. My parents wanted me to do well in the game as well. If a new guy walks into the MP (Madhya Pradesh) team, the first thing I ask him is 'padhai kar rahe ho ki nahi?' (are you studying or not?). Education will stay with you till you die, a cricketer cannot play till 60. You have to understand that there is a shelf life. After that, if you want to really excel in life, you have to be educated."
Venkatesh racked up 370 runs with an average of 46.25 in the IPL 2024 and played a key role for KKR.
