IPL 2025: Why is Venkatesh Iyer not playing in KKR vs CSK Match 57?

Venkatesh Iyer, Shaik Rasheed, and Sam Curran will not be featuring in the 57th match of the IPL 2025 between KKR and CSK. At INR 23.75 crore, Venkatesh was one of the costliest players in the IPL Auctions 2025 and hasn't lived up to the expectations. During the toss, Ajinkya Rahane confirmed the news and revealed Manish Pandey as his replacement in the Playing XI at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Likewise, CSK replaced Rasheed and Curran with Urvil Patel and Devon Conway, respectively. CSK named the likes of Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, and Jamie Overton as the potential impact substitutes. Likewise, KKR announced Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Anrich Nortje, and Mayank Markande as their potential impact players.

Toss Update

KKR skipper, Ajinkya Rahane, won the toss and opted to bat first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. CSK skipper, MS Dhoni, claimed that he was in two minds whether to bat or bowl first. However, he felt it was not a bad surface to chase due to the dimensions despite it potentially slowing down. While KKR had one change in their XI, CSK had a couple.

Venkatesh Iyer, Sam Curran, and Shaik Rasheed miss out on the KKR vs CSK IPL 2025 match

Manish Pandey replaced an injured Venkatesh Iyer in the Playing XI of the home side. During the toss, Rahane confirmed it as the reason behind his exclusion from the XI. Iyer has stitches on his hand. Likewise, MS Dhoni announced Devon Conway and Urvil Patel to be in CSK's XI in the places of Sam Curran and Shaik Rasheed, respectively, to try and see what they could offer to the side.

Also Read: KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit confident about shutting out noise from Dhoni fans in Kolkata

What did the captains say?

Ajinkya Rahane, Kolkata Knight Riders

We will bat first. Looks a good wicket. Last two games we batted first and did really well. We want to put runs on the board and defend it. What's important is taking one game at a time. Not thinking much about the future. Lots of learnings from the previous match, guys are looking forward to this game. You are bound to lose close games, but you need to be confident. If there's a chance, we will try to give our best. Venkatesh Iyer misses out, Manish Pandey comes in.

MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings

I have played a lot of cricket here while growing up, like a home ground for the amount of cricket I have played here. When it was Zonal trophy, a few office leagues, overall I have played a lot of cricket here and nearby. What's important is to get answers for the next year. What hasn't gone well for us in the tournament. Trying to get those answers, our middle order batting and bowling solutions. We are giving chances to players, but we want a good playing XI or XII. You can try such things towards the end. What players will slot in. They have two quality spinners, so it will be a challenge. Conway and Urvil Patel come in for Rasheed and Curran.

Playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact Subs: Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Anrich Nortje, Mayank Markande

Chennai Super Kings

Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni(C & WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Matheesha Pathirana

Impact Subs: Shivam Dube, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Jamie Overton, Deepak Hooda