Venkatesh Iyer has had a roller coaster ride in the past few months. He made his IPL debut for KKR last season and helped them turn their tournament around, carrying them through to the final where they lost to CSK.
His all-rounder skills made him a fan-favourite and soon he’d make his India debut – in T20Is versus New Zealand and then in ODIs in South Africa. He hadn’t fared too bad in the given chances with both bat and ball, however, Iyer was dropped from the ODI squad for the West Indies series, replaced by spinning all-rounder Deepak Hooda.
Venkatesh Iyer, who is part of the T20I squad though, opened up about his feelings and mindset on the snub after South Africa ODIs.
Speaking with Sportskeeda, the left-handed batsman said: “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.
Venkatesh Iyer wants to continue focussing on his process rather than thinking much about his axing from the ODI squad. He admitted that although it’s human nature to reflect upon the selections and non-selections, he wants to shift his mind on his game – perform in domestic cricket after the West Indies T20I series to once again work up the ranks.
“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,” he added.
“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,” Venkatesh Iyer explained.
