Stylish Indian batsman Venkatesh Iyer made a dream debut for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021. He impressed one and all with his all-rounder performances. Several cricketers and experts have called him the ‘biggest find’ of this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League.
However, not many are aware of the fact that it was legendary skipper Ricky Ponting who spotted this young talent. Yes, you read that right.
Ricky Ponting, who is hailed as one of the legendary captains of modern-day cricket, had spotted and had judged Venkatesh Iyer long back even before he made his debut for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Recently, speaking on The Grade Cricketer podcast, Ricky Ponting recalled that moment when he cast his eye on this talented left-hander from Indore at KKR camp. Ponting revealed that he was quick to enquire about Iyer from none other than team coach Brendon McCullum. ‘Who is this guy’ was the first thing he asked. He revealed:
“Venkatesh Iyer, opened for Kolkata at the back half of the season – he’s a real talent. He didn’t play the first half and ended up bowling some overs as well. He’s an all-rounder. I spoke to Brendon McCullum actually in the first part of the tournament. I saw him batting in the nets with us (Delhi Capitals) one day and I said to Brendon “Who is this kid? He’s not playing?’ He said ‘No, can’t get him in at the moment’ and whatever else.”
The talented all-rounder, who didn’t feature in the Indian leg of the IPL 2021, put on some stellar performances in the UAE leg and turned the fortunes of his team Kolkata Knight Riders. Ricky Ponting further said that Kolkata Knight Riders adopted an aggressive approach at the top in the UAE leg of IPL 2021, which was a reflection of Brendon McCullum’s ideology. He said:
“And then the rejig after the break, they came back with almost a completely different theory of how they want to play and it was a bit more Brendon’s way of going really hard at the top. So they got this kid at the top and he was very good.”
