Veteran batsman Robin Uthappa believes young all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has earned the respect of India captain Rohit Sharma with his bowling. The cricketer from Madhya Pradesh did a decent job after he was handed over the ball in the 3rd T20I against New Zealand at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
With Hardik Pandya struggling due to injury, Venkatesh Iyer has been touted as his replacement in the shorter formats. While there were no doubts about his batting abilities, the tall and lanky cricketer proved that he is a handy medium pace bowler.
On Sunday, Iyer returned with figures of 1/12 from three overs and bowled a good line and length. On the wake of it, Robin Uthappa believes Rohit Sharma will be more confident after Sunday’s performance to give him the ball more often.
“The way Venkatesh Iyer bowled will give Rohit a lot more confidence to throw the ball to him in different situations in the future.
“I think it was a matter of Venkatesh Iyer earning Rohit’s respect as far as his bowling was concerned. With the way he bowled today, he actually did that,” Robin Uthappa told ESPNcricinfo.
Need to reevaluate if Venkatesh Iyer’s bowling is good enough in a place like Australia – Robin Uthappa
As India look to find a set template with the next T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia in less than a year’s time, Robin Uthappa highlighted that the management need to see whether Venkatesh Iyer’s is good enough to bowl on Australian wickets.
“They have to reevaluate and (find out) if Venkatesh Iyer’s bowling is good enough in a place like Australia. They started that path today by actually giving him a bowl to see what he can do. Whether his all-round prowess can fit into the team moving forward towards that World Cup (remains to be seen),” the CSK batsman added.
Venkatesh Iyer is expected to be seen in action next during the tour of South Africa.