Hardik Pandya’s dismal 2021 T20 World Cup campaign and his several injury issues opened up a window of opportunity for Venkatesh Iyer as he filled the role of the pace-bowling all-rounder in the Indian team in his absence. After a breakthrough campaign in the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) where he played a major role in helping Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) reach the final, Venkatesh was called up to the Indian team for the home series vs New Zealand.
Venkatesh played all three games vs the Kiwis and also featured in the entire home series vs Sri Lanka and West Indies in February. In fact, he impressed with the bat for the Men in Blue despite playing in a new role as a finisher.
However, Hardik’s resurgence with both bat and ball while leading table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2022 along with Venkatesh’s dismal campaign for KKR put his place in doubt. Hardik has returned to the team for the upcoming series vs South Africa but Venkatesh has also retained his place. This will be the first time both Hardik and Venkatesh will be in the same Indian team.
With both playing similar roles in the team, comparisons between Hardik and Venkatesh have been going around the cricket community for a long while. Breaking his silence on the same, the KKR opener stated that he is looking to learn from Hardik and called him ‘superstar.’
Hardik Pandya is a superstar of the game. It will be an immense opportunity for me to learn so much from him. He has won so many games for our country and I hope he keeps doing so. I am taking it as a beautiful opportunity to learn and observe him. There is no competition between us, he is way ahead, and I would like to play alongside him,” said Venkatesh to SportsTiger.
So far, Venkatesh has played 9 T20Is for India and scored 133 runs an average of 33.25 and a strike rate of 162.19. He also has taken 5 wickets with the ball for the Men in Blue.
