With Hardik Pandya's fitness a concern, India now have Venkatesh Iyer and Harshal Patel as their white-ball all-round prospects. Rishabh Pant has shown that he has the ability to finish games for team India but he does need support. With Hardik Pandya not being able to deliver consistently with both bat and ball because of his fitness issues, India need someone in the mould of a pace bowling all rounder to not only provide the finishing touches but give balance to the side.
India's search has zeroed in at the moment on Harshal Patel and Venkatesh Iyer both of whom did exceptionally well in IPL 2021. Iyer, who opened the batting for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, batted at around number 6 in the T20I series against New Zealand as Rohit Sharma hinted that this would be the role that the all rounder would play in team India going forward.
Rohit said at the post-match presentation after the New Zealand T20I.
"Good to see Venkatesh Iyer bowling those overs with the skills he has. Important for us going forward. I would prefer that going forward. Teams around the world bat deep till No. 8 and No. 9. Harshal, when he plays for Haryana, opens the batting for them. And then Deepak, we've seen what he did in Sri Lanka. Chahal was looking forward to bat as well. It's important to start well. That's always been my mindset. Once you've seen the pitch you know what you've got to do. It was nicely coming onto the bat with the dew coming early. We had something planned as a batting group."
Iyer too was overjoyed after Rohit presented the trophy to the all-rounder once India trounced New Zealand 3-0.
"During the victory and trophy celebration, Rohit bhai came and gave the trophy to me and said well done. Holding the winning trophy was an emotional and proud moment for me," Venkatesh Iyer said after the T20I series. "I got a lot of support from my seniors, my captain Rohit bhai and coach Rahul sir. It was a special feeling for me when my captain Rohit bhai gave me the trophy and gave a lot of credit to me. He said you have done a good job, keep it up."
It will be interesting to see if Iyer can repay the faith of Rohit Sharma and the management.
