Looks like our new recruit Venkatesh Iyer is already getting into the IPL groove. The left-hand batsman scored a blistering 146-ball 198 for Madhya Pradesh in their Vijay Harare Trophy Group B match against Punjab at Holkar Stadium on Sunday.

Iyer's limitless hitting met with an unfortunate run out before he could score his first double hundred in List A cricket. This is now his highest score in all formats of cricket he has played thus far. His previous best of 109* came against Rajasthan in 2019 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Iyer's magical knock took MP to 402-3 in 50 overs and then he contributed with the ball (2-24) too to restrict Punjab for 297. Batting first, MP got off to a flier, courtesy Iyer's blitzkrieg. He went on stitch two solid partnerships with Rajat Patidar (54) and Aditya Shrivastava (88) to give his team a stronghold.

His 198 runs were studded with 7 over-boundaries and 20 boundaries. Seems like, all our Knights are warming up well and we can wait no longer for the IPL Season 14 to begin!