IND vs WI: At The Moment Venkatesh Iyer Has Bested His Position In India's All-Rounder Role, Says Ian Bishop

Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop said that Venkatesh Iyer has currently secured his position for the all-rounder’s role in the Indian team.

After thumping West Indies 3-0 in the ODI series, India handed a similar result to the visitors in the three-match T20I series. India outsmarted the Kieron Pollard-led side in the final T20I by 17 runs on Sunday.

Venkatesh Iyer stars in the third T20I against WI with all-round brilliance

Venkatesh Iyer scored 35 runs from 19 balls at the strike rate of 184.21, he pummeled four boundaries and a couple of sixes. Iyer came in to complete the final ball of the third over as Deepak Chahar left the field after suffering a hamstring injury. Iyer was hit for a six by Rovman Powell on the first ball.

Yet Indian skipper Rohit Sharma showed faith in him and handed him a couple of overs more. Iyer got the wickets of West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard and Jason Holder. The Madhya Pradesh all-rounder has played some handy cameos in the lower-middle order, he amassed 92 runs from three innings at the strike rate of 184.

Venkatesh was the revelation of IPL 2021 and broke into the KKR team with his power-hitting spree against the best bowlers in the world. The left-handed batter scored 370 runs from 10 innings in the second phase of IPL 2021 at the strike rate of 128.41.

Venkatesh Iyer surprised me with his versatility: Ian Bishop

Bishop was delighted to see the lanky all-rounder bat in the middle-order and score runs in a free-flowing manner. Bishop commented that Venkatesh will have to remain consistent with his performance but as of the moment he has bested his chances as India’s ace all-rounder.

“You can only play against what has been put in front of you. So people may say that it is the West Indies bowling attack and it isn’t that great and they are right. But Iyer has no control over this. And he surprised me with his versatility,” Bishop said on Star Sports. 

“Because when I saw him in the IPL, I saw him batting at the top of the order. He is now playing in the middle order getting off to a flying start with a great strike rate. We will see how he goes in the future but he has, at the moment, bested this position that he has been put into,” he added. 

India starts their bilateral series against Sri Lanka on February 24 with the three-match T20I series followed by a couple of Test matches, with the first Test scheduled to begin on March 4 in Mohali.

Also Read: IND vs WI: It Was Wonderful Batting With Him – Venkatesh Iyer On Partnership With Suryakumar Yadav