Money is one thing, but responsibility is a bigger one. Venkatesh Iyer had said so during a programme at a city hotel last month.
That responsibility is what he took en route to his 29-ball 60 at Eden Gardens on Thursday, which was key to Kolkata Knight Riders' huge 80-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The hefty amount of ₹23.75 crore that Venkatesh's franchise had to shell out to rope him in is spoken about very often. The daggers would gradually have been out at the Knight Riders' highest-paid player of this IPL edition had he not contributed on Thursday too, after aggregating only six from his first two innings.
The articulate and academically qualified 30-year-old, however, preferred being straightforward about the situation while he also had the game-defining knock backing him. "I won't lie. There's a little pressure.
"But being the highest-paid player in my team does not mean I have to make runs in every match," Iyer said firmly at the news conference.
"It's about how I'm winning for the team and what impact I can make. The pressure is not about how much money I am getting or how many runs I have to make. That's never been the pressure for me.
"After starting the IPL, it doesn't matter if you're getting ₹20 lakh or 20 crore. Sometimes, there will be very tricky situations where my job will be to play out some overs. And even if I do that and don't score runs, I've worked for my team."
Mentor's advice
Venkatesh's coach Anand Rajan, also a former medium-pacer, highlighted that he never discussed the former's price tag with him in the lead-up to this year's IPL. Or, when going into the Sunrisers game following disappointing shows in his previous two innings.
"The pressure would have been the same on him even if he was bought at his base price," Rajan, who has also played in three IPL editions for the now-defunct Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad, told The Telegraph from Indore on Friday.
"At the end of the day, you don't think about what price you're getting when out there in the middle. It's all about making an impact for the team and contributing. When you're in a tough situation, you think of an alternative option of working on it rather than worrying about it.
"Importantly, he has been batting well at nets and feeling confident. As a player, how well you feel in the practice sessions is very important. It was just that his hard work at nets wasn't getting converted in the game.
"So, yesterday (Thursday), before the game, I specifically told him, 'Just take your time. Play 10-15 balls, irrespective of the situation. Once you gain confidence, you know you can obviously match up with your strike rate later,' which actually happened yesterday (Thursday).
"So, we discussed it and manifested it in the way we're going to do it in this manner. The thought process thus was clear," Rajan, who coached Pondicherry in the last domestic season, explained.
The clarity in Venkatesh's thought process certainly played a leading role in helping him produce such a breathtaking knock on a dry and tad slow Eden wicket, coming out to bat at No.5.
Time with Bravo
Talking about Venkatesh's pre-season training, prioritising game time for his state team Madhya Pradesh did benefit the all-rounder.
That said, Venkatesh is also working on his bowling with Knights' mentor Dwayne Bravo during practice sessions to be ready whenever he's needed to bowl. "He's feeling really confident about his bowling now since he's working on the slower deliveries and yorkers with Bravo," Rajan said.