It had been 15 years since Brendon McCullum lit up the IPL in the tournament's very first game but no KKR batter managed a hundred after that.
That changed on Sunday when Venkatesh Iyer tamed the Mumbai Indians and smashed his maiden IPL hundred.
28-year-old Venkatesh Iyer wasted no time as soon as he arrived at the crease in the second over firing 9 massive sixes and 6 fours enroute to his maiden IPL century in just 49 balls, the quickest in IPL 2023 so far.
However, minutes after his blistering 100, Iyer fell prey to Riley Meredith’s delivery and departed for 104, the highest individual score of IPL 2023 yet.
Venkatesh Iyer has been KKR’s top batter for a couple of years now, however he only got his breakthrough in 2021 scoring 370 runs in 10 matches.
His stellar form in 2021 also helped KKR reach the final that year and Iyer was rewarded for the performance with a maiden India call-up later that year.
The following year was not the kindest to the southpaw. He faced a slump in the IPL, scoring only 182 runs across 12 matches, a stark contrast to his IPL 2023 performance.
Iyer has amassed a massive 225 runs in just 5 matches for the Kolkata-based franchise in IPL 2023, with his magnificent century on Sunday earning him the coveted orange cap as well.