"I played for India when I didn’t think about it" - Venkatesh Iyer prioritises 'kaabil' over 'kaamyaab' 

It would’ve been very easy for Venkatesh Iyer to brood over Hardik Pandya, fresh from an IPL-winning season with GT, replacing him in the India squad. After all, he had stepped into the latter’s shoes and met all expectations in the preceding eight months.

Another IPL season has been completed and it’s been more than a year since Venkatesh last played for India. The entire narrative has been upended with the KKR star back to square one – striving to impress the selectors once again, pushing for a national comeback. It paints a grim picture. But the matter is not as simple as it may seem.

The first step to address an issue is to accept the issue. Venky, as he is fondly called, would be the first to concede that he is nowhere close to being India’s premier all-rounder. He might have felt hard done by when his berth in India’s T20 team was no longer certain. But he definitely thought he was unluckier than ‘human lightning conductor’ Roy Sullivan, when his road to redemption was cut short by an untimely injury.

The burly southpaw, who also bowls seam-up, had already scored 189 runs at a stunning strike-rate of 161.53 in the first four games of the 2022/23 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. But ahead of Madhya Pradesh's match against Mizoram on October 18, he fell down a staircase at the team hotel and broke his ankle. The mental distress would’ve been as much as the physical, if not more.

But everything has an upside. While the freak accident took a chunk of his time away, it also left behind gratitude. Venkatesh Iyer is now more grateful for the little things in life. The 28-year-old is not chasing success, but instead practising the Rancho theory from 3 Idiots: ‘Kaamyaab hone ke liye nahin, kaabil hone ke liye padho (study to be accomplished, not affluent)’.

Venkatesh, who holds a degree in MBA Finance, can draw inspiration from the very person he was replaced by. Hardik did not have to overcome just prolonged fitness issues, but off-field matters as well. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Venkatesh Iyer stated that he’s working really hard on his bowling, while also carving his craft for all batting slots.

Venkatesh Iyer was summoned to the UAE as part of India’s extended squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup, right after his first tryst with IPL. He made his debut in both T20Is and ODIs when he himself was inexpectant.

If you want to believe in fairytales, you have to wake up and smell the coffee too.

Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times in his life. And yet he survived all of them to now have his place in the Guinness World Records.

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Excerpts from Venkatesh Iyer's exclusive interview to Sportskeeda:

Venkatesh Iyer has represented India in 9 T20Is and 2 ODIs so far

Q. The last one year has been nothing short of a roller-coaster – all of good, bad and ugly have happened. How do you assess this past year for yourself?

Venkatesh Iyer: Yeah as you correctly mentioned, last year has been nothing short of a roller-coaster. But there were so many moments to be grateful for – both in terms of cricket and personal life. I got to meet Rajinikanth, I got to meet Shah Rukh Khan, I scored an IPL hundred, I got to know first-hand how a twisted and a broken ankle looks like. And then, I was a patient where at the age of 28, someone had to come feed me, someone had to come help me go to the washroom. I have seen a lot of things this year, but such phases teach you a lot in life and I have learnt a lot from it.

Q. At the time of last year’s IPL, you were part of the Indian team and doing everything one could ask of you. And then suddenly, come that South Africa series, you were replaced by Hardik Pandya. How did you feel at that point?

Venkatesh Iyer: In India, there is a problem of plenty. And then when you look at Hardik, he’s got the skills to be India’s top all-rounder. And if I have to cement my place in the 11, I have to be as good as him, which I’m nowhere close to at this point of time. This is the honest truth and I have to accept that. But I’ll be working towards it. And once I’m confident of my bowling, then I think I can contribute in all the departments. It’s just about my bowling which I’m really working hard on.

Q. As a player, does it feel frustrating to be dropped despite performing consistently, only because that incumbent player has come back?

Venkatesh Iyer: No, I don’t think so. That’s how it works, right? Specially in a World Cup year, where you need to get your best combination, I don’t see it as being dropped because someone else has come. See, everyone wants India to win and in order to make India win, they want to give the best possible combination. And if I don’t fit in the best combination, then what will I do being in the team? I don’t want to be in the team and just be there; I want to play and contribute. So yeah, I look at it that way. It gives me an opportunity to get better and give them more to pick me in the team.

Q. When you were in the hospital with that twisted ankle, how mentally taxing was it? You were chasing redemption, you were in fine form, and then there was an abrupt end.

Venkatesh Iyer: I did feel very bad when this happened. Getting injured on the ground is different. If I am falling down from a staircase, then you can’t do a lot about it. It’s just an accident and you can’t control these things. But like you said, I was doing well, I was eyeing a comeback – who knows, I could’ve made it to the New Zealand tour. But it’s okay, these things happen. Now if I think of it, it’ll give me more depression rather than help me move forward. So yeah, it took me a while to get out of that phase, but I’m out of it finally.

Q. Now coming to IPL 2023, you had your best ever season, scoring upwards of 400 runs. But do you feel you tapered off towards the end, as compared to how you started the season?

Venkatesh Iyer: Yeah that is something that I really thought of. After five matches, I was having the Orange Cap and I had scored around 250 runs. I think I should’ve finished with more. But for me, the best season would be where even if I’ve scored only 200 runs, the team has made it big. So if the team has finished seventh, even if I had scored 600 runs, that wouldn’t have counted. But yeah, personally I judge myself by how I improved as a cricketer. This year again, I understood my batting a lot, I worked on it and I am really looking forward to the next season.

Q. This season also saw you strike at 145.85. But you weren’t going hammer and tongs from ball one, something you did under Baz. Was this a conscious shift?

Venkatesh Iyer: That is actually what the situation demanded. I wasn’t opening the innings, I was batting at No. 3 where Shreyas [Iyer] played. So we needed someone to just steady the ship and play that anchor role. And where I was required to go out there and score 10 an over, I thought I tried to do that. But again, cricket is about situational awareness and how I will bat in a particular innings will depend on the situation.

Q. It was a new-look KKR, as far as the management was concerned. Chandrakant Pandit's first year in the IPL and Nitish Rana's first experience of handling high-profile names. How would you rate them both?

Venkatesh Iyer: I really enjoyed playing under both of them. I had already played under Chandu bhai; we all know how amazing his tactics are. Of course they would go unnoticed with the result, but there were so many moments that literally saw the Chandu sir magic. I certainly remember a few decisions where everyone would’ve disagreed, but Chandu sir went forward with them. Against CSK at Chepauk, he used the heavy roller. And I thought he was doing it wrong, even Nitish would’ve thought, ‘kya ho raha yeh?’ But that turned out to be a masterstroke; the wicket played amazingly well and we convincingly beat them. And also Nitish being a player’s captain, he’s a guy that everyone admires. He’s very approachable, so really enjoyed playing under him.

Q. In the 2021 SMAT, you opened for MP. Last year, you batted in the middle order. You and Chandu sir go back a long way. So what was the reason behind that?

Venkatesh Iyer: Actually, Chandu sir promised me before the tournament [2022/23 SMAT] that he would make me look like a versatile batter. He’d give me different roles for different matches. I batted No. 5 in one game, No. 3 in the other and No. 4 in another. And if not for the injury, I was going to open in the next match. So that was a conscious effort from him to make me understand the importance of playing in different roles. And now that I’ve played a lot of games for MP, he wants me to take the initiative and do well in different slots.

Q. You have been taking wickets in every Mushtaq Ali. Even in the last IPL, you sent down four overs. But you didn’t bowl at all this season. What was the reason behind it?

Venkatesh Iyer: A very obvious answer to that is the Impact Player rule. We have five specialist bowlers, and as an impact bowler, you can get a sixth one as well. But then you have Andre Russell in the team who’s a regular. And Nitish can bowl himself at Eden where the pitch suits spinners. So I had next to zero chance to bowl.

Q. I heard you used to bowl on your own in the nets after practice would get over.

Venkatesh Iyer: Yeah see, that’s my job. I need to keep improving my bowling every day. There would suddenly come a day where I am standing and Nitish would ask me to bowl. So I have to be ready for those situations.

Q. How was meeting Rajinikanth? What did you guys talk about?

Venkatesh Iyer: It was more listening than saying. I just asked him his daily routine, how spiritual he is, and what is the reason for him being so humble. It was an amazing conversation. I didn’t speak much because I was awestruck to even gather words to ask anything. I wore a watch that he wore in Kabali which I then gave him.

Q. You were also a commentator-broadcaster at Star Sports for the IPL playoffs. How did it feel to be on the other side of the boundary?

Venkatesh Iyer: Here, you turn into someone who’s looking at the game from a different angle and analysing the game in a different way. It’s basically calling the game rather than reacting on what’s happening – it’s an entirely different ball game. But I had a lot of fun, people were very supportive, and I had the opportunity to dress up as well.

Q. You mentioned that you’re working on your bowling. But in your head, how are you plotting your India comeback?

Venkatesh Iyer: I am absolutely not thinking of a comeback. I played in the Indian team when I didn’t think about it. So I want to keep it that way. The more pressure I add on myself, the more I would go away from my process. The only thing in mind is to become the 100 percent fit cricketer that I always was – to bat and bowl in full capacity. And that will happen when I play more and more domestic games. So the current focus is to represent MP. Once I can look in the mirror and say, ‘I am ready to represent India’, only then I’ll think about it.

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