Venkatesh Iyer Says Always Confident To Deliver With The Ball As Well

Venkatesh Iyer has been one of the star performers with the bat in the UAE leg of the IPL 2021, making an immediate impact on his debut with an unbeaten 41 against Royal Challengers Bangalore a few days back. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opener scored his maiden IPL fifty in the next match against Mumbai Indians. Iyer has scored 126 runs in four innings so far in IPL 2021.

But on Tuesday, Iyer starred with the ball, claiming the wickets of the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer and Axar Patel for figures of 2-29 as KKR restricted Delhi Capitals to 127/9 in 20 overs. With medium-pacer Lockie Ferguson injured and unable to complete his quota of four overs, Morgan turned to Iyer and the Madhya Pradesh allrounder made an immediate impact, bowling yorkers and slower ones to keep the batsmen in check.

Iyer was delighted to have done well with the ball too after making his mark with the bat.

"Felt good with the ball. Always had the confidence that I can deliver with the ball. I do practice the yorker a lot. I practice with my bowling coach Anand Rajan. For me, it's about accuracy and bowling to my field. As long as my execution is current, I am extremely satisfied," he said on Tuesday.

Iyer said one has to be good in all three departments of the game -- batting, bowling, and fielding -- to excel in a format like Twenty20.

"I think to be a player who can help in all three departments is good. I thrive in fielding as well. I've always wanted to be that cricketer," Iyer said.

With Iyer contributing with both bat and ball, KKR are obviously happy to have unearthed a gem that many feel will have a long career.