In the first ODI at Paarl, India took the field with six bowling options including debutant Venkatesh Iyer, who made his maiden international appearance in a T20I against New Zealand in November. However, Rahul didn’t hand the bowler a single over throughout the match as five bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled all fifty overs in the game.
After making his T20I debut against New Zealand in November and a memorable campaign for Madhya Pradesh in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, Iyer was given a call-up to the ODI squad for the South Africa series. However he has played in four games for India but has only bowled 18 deliveries since his debut in November 2021. Despite fewer opportunities to bowl, he has managed to register a dismissal.
With South Africa stitching a 200-plus-run partnership around Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen, Iyer was not given the ball despite India’s bowlers not tasting any success. Although in the press conference, India batter Shikhar Dhawan explained why Venkatesh wasn’t asked to bowl, saying that the spinner bowled well but numbers throw up a contrasting story. Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin combined to pick just 1 wicket for 106 runs. The decision by Rahul was met with criticism from former Indian cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Aakash Chopra, who wondered whether the team management sees Iyer as an all-rounder.
However, To put things into further context, he was picked to be a batter who could bowl medium pace – the rarest of rare combinations on the Indian circuit. With Hardik Pandya’s bowling fitness continuing to be an issue, the Indian team management called upon Iyer in a bid to groom him for a similar role.
Selectors and management have shown faith in Venkatesh Iyer by fast-tracking him into the national team setup. But the fact remains that they will never know how ready he is for international cricket unless he is thrown into the deep end of the pool.