Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has praised allrounder Venkatesh Iyer for his adaptability, suggesting that he’s a dynamic player who can fit in wherever the team requires him.
“He is a very versatile player. You’ve seen him bat up the order, down the order and he can give you some overs as well”, Nayar told news agency PTI.
“He…can adapt very quickly because of the amount of intelligence and smartness he possesses,” he added.
Nayar felt Iyer could complement Hardik Pandya in the role of the second allrounder.
Iyer has currently been kept as a standby for the Asian Games that will be held in Hangzhou, China next month from September 23 to October 8.
Nayar says the inclusion of Iyer into the squad will help his confidence. “Unfortunately, he suffered an injury last year. He needs to just keep going and just believing in his art all over again,” he said.
Iyer suffered a serious ankle injury during last year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and was forced out of the majority of the domestic season before making a decent comeback in the IPL with KKR.
Iyer later revealed how he headed to the National Cricket Academy just to start walking again and added that it taught him a lot.
While talking about his opportunity at the Asian Games, Iyer told Sportstar, “I do not want to term this a comeback. If I keep thinking about it, that is excess baggage that I will carry.”
Iyer has some impressive IPL performances to his name.
He breached the 400-run mark this year with KKR, having played 14 games in the competition. He also hit 104 runs against Mumbai Indians becoming only the second KKR player to hit a century since Brendon McCullum’s incredible 158-run epic in 2008.
Iyer has represented India in both formats of white-ball cricket. He made his ODI debut on January 19 last year in a game against South Africa but failed to impress as he scored two runs in seven balls.
His T20I debut came against New Zealand where the all-rounder scored four runs in two balls. His last competitive game for his country was in February.
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