One of the finest cricket minds, Ricky Ponting inquired about Iyer when he saw him in the first half of IPL.
Venkatesh Iyer batted at the top and scored 370 runs in the second half of the IPL which was partly the reason for KKR’s stellar performance which eventually ended in the final against winners CSK.
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One of the great captains of modern day cricket, Ricky Ponting is one of the best at spotting young talent. It is therefore no surprise that he had judged Venkatesh Iyer long before he even played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Recalling the moment he laid his eyes on the Indore left-hander at the KKR nets, he said that he was quick to ask none other than the team’s coach Brendon McCullum about the batsman. ‘Who is this man’ was the first thing he asked.
“Venkatesh Iyer, opened for Kolkata in the back half of the season – he is a real talent. He didn’t play the first half and bowled a few overs too. He is an all rounder. I actually spoke to Brendon McCullum in the first half of the tournament.”
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“I saw him bat with us (Delhi Capitals) in the nets one day and I said to Brendan, ‘Who is this kid? He’s not playing?’ He said, ‘No, at this point he can’t be brought in’ and whatever,’ said Ponting on the Grade Cricketer podcast.
Iyer batted on top and scored 370 runs in the second half IPL This was partly the reason for KKR’s stellar performance which eventually ended in the final against winners CSK. He credited McCullum and said that was the reason the team was on top. “And then Risig after the break, they almost came back with a completely different theory of how they wanted to play and it was a little bit more of a way to be really tough on top of Brendan. So they got this kid over the top and he was great,” concluded Ricky Ponting.
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Ponting is the head coach of Delhi Capitals, a position he took up in 2019. He has since been successful with his team in the last four for three consecutive years.
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