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The rising star of Indian cricket, Venkatesh Iyer is continuing his purple patch with his bat and bowl. In an all-round show, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter scored an unbeaten half-century and took two wickets for just 20 runs against Railways in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. Iyer’s performance with both bat and bowl helped the team to clinch an easy win against Railways by seven wickets with 13 balls to spare.
In a 16-over game, Madhya Pradesh were able to restrict Railways for a total of 97 for the loss of nine wickets. The small target was easily chased by Madhya Pradesh with Iyer anchoring the chase along with small contributions from other players including an unbeaten cameo from skipper Parth Sahani.
All-round Iyer
The Indore lad bowled beautifully in the first innings getting the wicket of opener Pratham Singh with the new ball in the powerplay overs. Later, he returned to bowl in middle overs taking the wicket of southpaw Karn Sharma. He finished with two wickets for 20 runs in three overs he bowled. The left-handed batter got to his half-century from 41 deliveries. His innings included three fours and two sixes.
On November 4 against Assam Iyer was impressive getting the wicket of opener and then contributed with a 23-ball 37 in the successful run chase of 104.
KKR’s find ‘Venkatesh’
The 26-year-old player was the find of the tournament for KKR in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. With his sensational batting performances, Venkatesh helped the team turn their season around and reach the final of the tournament. He scored 370 runs in 10 matches with an average of 41.11 and a strike rate of 128.47. Venkatesh scored four half-centuries and his highest score was 67 runs.
The southpaw is constantly banging on selectors’ doors with consistent performances. With T20I series at home against New Zealand to be played from November 17, Iyer may get his maiden call-up for the national side as a number of senior players are set to be rested.
