Pre-season coaching camps are normally all enterprise, drills, health periods, tactical discussions, and loads of laborious work behind closed doorways. However every so often, a second sneaks out that captures the spirit of a dressing room higher than any press convention ever might. That’s precisely what occurred at Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s pre-season nets, when a brief clip posted on RCB’s official social media stopped cricket followers of their tracks.
Venkatesh Iyer’s transfer to RCB and what he brings to the desk
Venkatesh Iyer was picked up by RCB for ₹7 crore on the IPL 2026 public sale, having beforehand been a key a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders setup. In his time with KKR, he performed 62 matches and scored 1,468 runs as a left-handed batter, averaging a strike fee of 137.32 with one century and 12 fifties to his identify.
However what has all the time made Iyer attention-grabbing is that he’s not only a batter. His means to bowl at an honest tempo and contribute with the ball provides a layer of flexibility that any T20 facet values. RCB head coach Andy Flower has already highlighted Iyer’s all-round utility as essential to the group’s stability, and going by the nets footage, Iyer appears to be taking that duty significantly.
Virat Kohli phrases Iyer as Allan Donald
Iyer was seen bowling within the nets and nailing a exact yorker that sends the off-stump flying. Standing close by and watching it unfold is none aside from Virat Kohli, who reacts instantly with a smile and drops a reference that no Indian cricket fan would miss. Kohli known as out to Iyer saying “Venkateshwar, tu toh Allan Donald bana hua hai” — evaluating him to the South African tempo legend proper there in the course of a observe session.
Right here is the video:
Get up twelfth Man Military, a brand new nick identify simply dropped. 🤭🤭
Watch the video for what VK mentioned. 😂🔥
That is Emmvee presents RCB Shorts.#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2026 pic.twitter.com/GjhdlJv2TM
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 26, 2026
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For these unfamiliar with the identify, Allan Donald is extensively considered some of the fearsome quick bowlers to ever play the sport. The South African, nicknamed “White Lightning,” terrorized batters all through the Nineties and early 2000s along with his searing tempo, accuracy, and talent to generate sharp bounce on any floor. He took 330 Take a look at wickets and was instrumental in South Africa’s rise as a cricketing powerhouse after their return to worldwide cricket.
So when Kohli, a person who has confronted the most effective bowlers on the planet throughout codecs, casually drops that identify whereas watching a internet session, it isn’t one thing you sweep apart. It was clearly mentioned in good humour, however the underlying level was clear: Iyer was bowling with real tempo and precision, sufficient to earn a response from one in every of cricket’s best minds.
RCB start their title defence towards Sunrisers Hyderabad this Saturday on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, and if the vitality popping out of their pre-season camp is something to go by, the defending champions are going into IPL 2026 in an excellent headspace certainly.
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