“Being a leader, you want to contribute with your ideas, with your suggestions. You don’t really need the captaincy tag for that.

“So I always want to be a leader in the dressing room. And if captaincy comes my way, it will be an honour to lead such a reputed franchise. Let’s see what’s in store for me.”

Venkatesh Iyer was bought at the recent IPL player auction for Rs 23.75 crore, making him the fourth-most expensive player ever. The KKR all-rounder on why wearing the India jersey matters to him the most.

“When the Indian team won the (T20) World Cup and came back to India, you saw the reception. Who would not want to be a part of that team! Who would not want to don that blue jersey or the Indian Test jersey,” he said.

“There are certain things beyond money and skills. That’s what makes us love the game so much. And that’s called emotion …that’s passion. When we all started playing cricket, no one had the concept of earning from cricket.

“What I understood was representing India, being shown on the television, millions cheering for me and me making my country win.”

On the price tag, he said: “It has now become very normal for people to talk about price tags and money coming into the game and hindering players’ perspectives. But I still feel nothing can match the feeling of representing your country.

“That is the feeling that neither money nor fame can ever replicate… not even a Rs 23 crore price tag. It does sound big but I can vouch there is no greater feeling than playing for India.

“There have been so many moments in my life but the thing I remember the most is that one cover drive that I hit in an India vs South Africa game. There are great moments… I got married, it was wonderful… but the moment that I remember is when I stood there and the national anthem was playing.” he added.