Indian Premier League defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday posted a heartfelt message for their star allrounder Venkatesh Iyer, who suffered a nasty ankle injury during Madhya Pradesh's Ranji Trophy match against Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram. He twisted his ankle while batting on Day 1 of the game, a day highlighted by several star Indian cricketers' return to domestic cricket.

Just two balls into his innings after he came in at No. 6, with Madhya Pradesh struggling at 49/5, Iyer fell in pain after twisting his ankle. The physio had to come in to assess him but he was unable to get up.

Iyer hobbled off the field with the physios, which must have raised eyebrows for several KKR fans. Meanwhile, his team's struggles with the bat worsened as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Iyer braved the injury and returned to the crease to help the team. He scored a valuable 42 runs off 80 balls, before being the penultimate wicket to fall in the innings in the 61st over.

Iyer's return to the field would have made KKR management and the fans heave a huge sigh of relief, with IPL 2025 two months away from now. "Fighter hai apna Iyer," KKR posted on its social media handles.

Earlier, Sachin Baby won the toss and put MP in to bat first in what turned out to be a brilliant decision. His bowlers reduced the opposition to 117/8 in the 47th over before Iyer and Avesh Khan added 43 runs for the ninth wicket. But soon, their innings folded for a paltry 160.

The MP bowlers didn't have a great start either with Kerala openers Akshay Chandran and Rohan Kunnummal taking their side to 54/0 at the end of the day's play.

Iyer's last first-class appearance was against Bengal in November, where he scored a half-century in the second innings.

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