Rohit Sharma louds Venkatesh Iyer for his performance against New Zealand
Indian cricket team's new T20I captain Rohit Sharma has louded debutant Venkatesh Iyer after India registered a clean sweep over the New Zealand team in the 3 match T20I series.
The Indian team won the 3rd T20I played in Kolkata to win the T20I series 3-0 over New Zealand. After the match, the Indian team captain Rohit Sharma praised batting all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer for his performance throughout the series.
Venkatesh Iyer had been performing really well in the domestic circuit for Madhya Pradesh. But he made the most of it when he got opportunity for play for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL.
Venkatesh Iyer was nowhere near the first Playing XI during the first phase of the IPL 2021. But he made the most of it when he got the chance to play in the 2nd phase in UAE. Iyer played 10 matches and scored 370 runs, opening for the KKR side along with Shubman Gill.
The duo almost guided the Kolkata Knight Riders to the Trophy in the IPL 2021 final. But the team fell apart after both Shubman and Iyer departed.
Rohit Sharma during the post match presentation heaped praise of Venkatesh Iyer. He stated that the plan is to keep him in the mix as much as possible. He continued that Iyer looked quite composed in the Kolkata match and had a clear mindset of what he wanted to do, he looks a bright prospect in terms of his bowling skill as well.
"Good to see Venkatesh Iyer bowling those overs with the skills he has. Important for us going forward"- Rohit Sharma 👏#RohitSharma #VenkateshIyer #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/GurRBqiYMD
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) November 21, 2021
He added that Iyer usually opens for his IPL franchise KKR, which is not possible in the Indian team, thus he has been given an opportunity to bat at the lower middle-order, somewhere 5,6 or 7.
Talking about Venkatesh's performance in the Kolkata T20I, he scored 20 runs of 15 balls with a strike rate of 133. He also bowled really well, picking up 1 wicket and just gave away 12 runs in 3 overs. Overall in the series, Venkatesh Iyer scored 36 runs in 3 matches and just got bowl in the last match only.
With the win in Kolkata, India have done a clean sweep over New Zealand in the T20I series, which was a debut for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid combo as India's T20I captain and Head Coach.
India vs New Zealand Test Series
India will now take on New Zealand in a 2 match Test series starting from 25th of November, which will be part of the World Test Championship 2021-2023 cycle. The first Test will be played from 25th November till 29th November, while the 2nd match will be played from 3rd December till 7th December.