"I know what I need to do to get back into the squad, and be the option that we’re looking for" - Venkatesh Iyer

More than breaking into the team, it’s harder to sustain oneself in the team. India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has learnt it the hard way. After a dream run in 2021 – IPL highs followed by T20I and ODI debuts – the 27-year-old found himself out of favour with India's 50-over side for the ongoing West Indies series.

But if one has followed his career trajectory closely, eyebrows will automatically get raised at his snub. In the ODI series in South Africa last month, the seam-bowling all-rounder had just two bouts of batting and five overs of bowling. Suryakumar Yadav, who took his place in the third ODI in Cape Town, played the opening game against the Windies on Sunday.

It’d seem even more baffling to recall that the team had hyped him up as the coveted sixth-bowling option. Strangely, spin all-rounder Deepak Hooda, who got his India cap at Motera, also didn’t get to roll his arm over, notwithstanding the West Indies forever being on the back foot.

But for someone who has balanced studies and cricket from a young age, and excelled in both, Venkatesh Iyer knows the art of prioritization.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, he revealed that he joined Madhya Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy camp after returning to the country. Iyer’s clarity of mind has made him sound like always having a back-up plan. To negate not having answers to certain questions, these Plan B and Plan C are what he is constantly striving for behind the scenes.

Knowing one’s strengths is as important as knowing their weaknesses. Iyer knows the pull shot and the reverse-paddle, that got him out on his ODI and T20I debuts respectively are his percentage shots and he will continue employing them. Similarly, he also knows the areas which need urgent patchworks – a back-and-forth process that he’s acknowledged won’t ever stop.

Now ahead of the three-match T20I series against the Caribbean giants starting February 16, Venkatesh Iyer has a slightly longer not-to-do list. And the first international heartbreak would have him more battle-hardened.

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Excerpts from Venkatesh Iyer's exclusive chat with Sportskeeda:

Venkatesh Iyer registered scores of 2 and 22 in the first two ODIs vs South Africa

Q. You made your ODI debut in that first game in Paarl. When were you told that you’d play because there were quite a few contenders for the middle-order?

Venkatesh Iyer: I was told one day before the match and I knew my role well, so I was prepared for that.

Q. KL mentioned in the pre-series presser that you will be the sixth bowling option. Did you feel any sort of nerves because it was your ODI debut and the team was looking up to your all-round skills?

Venkatesh Iyer: Obviously there are those initial nerves, but once you get settled in and accept that that’s the role that you’re going to do, then it kind of becomes a bit easier in your head. I was prepared for it, you know that you’re in the team for a purpose and that is going to be your role going forward. So there was not a lot of thought behind it, but once I got to know that I am going to play, I had my focus on that.

Q. But then strangely you weren’t given the ball in the first ODI. Of course it was the captain’s call, but what was going through your mind as that huge partnership started building?

Venkatesh Iyer: Not from an individual point of view, but from a team point of view, I just wanted one wicket to fall so that a new batter could come and we could build the pressure. But unfortunately that didn’t happen and honestly, they batted really well. I was prepared if I’d have been called for bowling, I’d have given my best. But as a fielder also, I was ready to make something happen – if a catch came or a run-out opportunity came, I would grab that.

Q. Were you given any sort of explanation after or during the game as to why you weren’t given bowling?

Venkatesh Iyer: These things don’t require explanation. As cricketers, we have to accept certain things. There are so many bowling options, you can’t use all of them in one game. So it didn’t happen that day. I was not expecting an explanation and as professional cricketers, we need to understand what a captain has to go through and whatever decisions he makes, we have to act accordingly.

Q. About your batting, 116 runs were required when you walked out to bat and then there was a mini collapse. You took your time and then that pull shot. You spoke about the Bazz factor, so did you go in with the same mindset of going for your shots regardless of the risk factor?

Venkatesh Iyer: It’s not about the risk, but these are shots that I do play and unfortunately this one went straight to hand. I was trying to keep it down, but unfortunately I hit it too well that it went to hand. So I did not give too much thought to it, it is my shot and I played it and it so happened that it found the fielder. It doesn’t mean that I’ll stop playing it – a few metres here and there, and that would have been a boundary and we would have been on course of chasing the target.

Q. In the second ODI, it seemed that you were setting it up beautifully. After walking in at 183/4, you moved to 22 and the stage was set to go big in the last five overs. Was this your plan as well, to be set, take it deep and then go for the final flourish?

Venkatesh Iyer: Yeah, absolutely. As someone batting in the middle order, you always to want to bat deep, you always want to be there till the end, so that you can make use of those death overs and execute your hitting skills. That’s what my plan was, but unfortunately that didn’t happen because of that loss of balance in that shot. This is what I was wanting to do – just get set and maybe get those boundaries at the end. But yeah, it didn’t happen.

Q. And your dismissal was a carbon copy of Rishabh’s from the first ODI. Did you guys have a laugh about it later?

Venkatesh Iyer: Not really [chuckles], I think that was exceptional glovework by Quinton de Kock, you’ll have to give it to him. There is a crease and we have to be inside it, I was caught off-guard there and that shouldn’t be happening.

A lightning stumping by Quinton de Kock caught Venkatesh Iyer's foot in the air

Q. You also bowled five overs in that game. I remember Rishabh telling you from behind the sticks about some wobbly delivery and he was like, ‘woh vala daal’. What was that about?

Venkatesh Iyer: It was very hot and you need some energy to keep going on a hot day. It’s good that he keeps that going behind the stumps and once that happens, it lifts the entire team and sets you up for somehow showing more energy and trying to put in some extra effort. That was good, and yeah, it was a good experience bowling in an international game again.

Q. Rahul Dravid made it clear that the team is looking for someone who can be the sixth bowling option and also bat at No.6. I know you’ve batted in the middle-order for MP. But when you are trying to establish yourself in a team, do you or would you sometimes keep the fearlessness at bay and try modelling your game differently, as opposed to KKR where you are an integral part?

Venkatesh Iyer: That is what professional cricket is about, you need to adapt to the conditions. And conditions are not going to be similar in every game. They’ll keep on changing and it’ll be testing some days and easier on others. So a good cricketer is one who can be flexible and adapt to situations quickly. So if that means me going out there, taking my time and setting it up in the end, so be it.

If they expect me to go out there and hit those boundaries, that should also be my game. So it’s up to the situation – how I react to the situation, how I read the situation well, assess it and execute my plan. At the end of the day, it’s ODI cricket and you have to play your shots, but it’s just a matter of choosing and selecting and picking the right bowler or the right ball.

Q. After the NZ series, you spoke about how the first experience of international cricket taught you how to go about it, what are the things you need to improve. Now after your second series and a drop from the ODI squad, what are the learnings for you, in terms of both cricketing and human aspects?

Venkatesh Iyer: As far as the game is concerned, it’s a constant battle. You have to keep building on your skills. People will read you, people will come at you with different plans, you have to stay one step ahead of them. I know I have my job cut out, in both batting and bowling. So I am working on it, I know what I need to do to get back into the squad, and be the option that we’re looking for. It was a wonderful experience playing in South Africa, playing for your country is always special irrespective of where you’re playing. So it was a good foreign tour for me.

Q. Snubs are always uncontrollables. What is a player’s perspective, who’s trying to cement his place, of not getting a long rope? How hard is it for them and how should one deal with such setbacks and frustration?

Venkatesh Iyer: Getting into a team, being dropped from a team – these are things that are not in your control. You just have to go out there and try and execute your plan, rather than thinking about selection and things like that because they’re not in your control. The only way to deal with this is to come back and get back to the process. Because, your process never includes selection, it only includes your hardwork, your skill development, improvement in the game – that is what the process is.

So staying in the process and getting the best out if it, is what I look to do and not think about selection. And sometimes, it’s human nature to think of things like, ‘Why I haven’t been picked?’, but at the end of the day, you can’t be sitting there and thinking what has happened. You just have to get up. And it’s good that we play in a country where there’s so much competition – you constantly get to evolve and learn, you can come back and play domestic cricket which is highly, highly competitive.

So I came back and I was part of the Ranji setup, so it’s great for me to have this continuous cricket and continuous development in my game. So that I can go back there as a better cricketer and a better human.

Venkatesh Iyer's maiden international wicket came last November when he dismissed New Zealand's Adam Milne

Q. The West Indies series is up next and you are obviously yearning for your next chances. But at the same time, do you also mentally prepare yourself to stay content with not getting chances and always having better things to look forward to?

Venkatesh Iyer: That can crop in these thoughts. But I am going to play for my country, which is a very special feeling. I am going to work and try and give my best efforts to whatever role I am put in and in whatever capacity I can contribute. So you cannot think from an individual point of view on how to go about things, you just have to go out there and execute the team plans and make the team win. Because the team is counting on you. And it’s going to be very exciting, West Indies obviously have very good T20 players. So it’s going to be a wonderful series to play and hopefully we can win it.

Q. After the IPL and the two international series, have you tweaked anything in your template, batting approach – have you done anything different?

Venkatesh Iyer: As I told you, teams will come at you with new plans and they’ll read you more, so you have to stay one step ahead of them. That involves identifying your flaws and continuously working on them – that process will never end till I retire. So I am continuously working on all three aspects of the game. There are continuous developments, continuous efforts that I am putting into being a better player and add value to whatever I do – be it batting, bowling, batting at the top of the order or middle order, batting and bowling with both red and white balls. So there is something or the other that I keep on doing to add value to myself as a cricketer, which is very important in our lives.

Q. Are you the sort of person who sits and jots down the flaws at the end of a series? And about constantly upgrading yourself, what are the things right now that you’ve noted that need to be worked on?

Venkatesh Iyer: These are things from a cricketing point of view, which I’ve had conversations with my coaches. Those things which are very cricketing in nature – things that coaches have identified, things that I have identified, I talk with them and seek their guidance on how to correct them, improve them or just tweak them a little bit. Major changes cannot take place, it’s just those little alterations that you do here and there which I am constantly guided for.

Q. Are you looking forward to the Ranji Trophy as well because you mentioned that it’s your dream to gift Chandrakant Pandit sir and MP a title?

Venkatesh Iyer: I am really excited for the Ranji Trophy and my preparations are on point. Obviously with the T20s coming up, I have to focus here. But if I get to play Ranji Trophy games, I’ll definitely try and give my best and make my state team win.