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Gautam Gambhir lashes out at Venkatesh Iyer for lacking maturity

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With Hardik Pandya busy recovering from a back injury, the Indian team management is searching for a fast-bowling all-rounder. 


Venkatesh Iyer's exploits in the last IPL season fast-tracked his international career. Iyer made his T20I debut last year against New Zealand which was followed by two appearances in the recently-concluded fifty-over series vs South Africa 


As Venkatesh failed to leave his mark in the two matches, he was dropped from the playing XI of the third ODI. While the 27-year-old cricketer did not bowl enough overs, his mediocre outings with the bat prompted the team management to exclude him from the XI.


However, a section of cricket pundits and fans raised questions on Iyer's omission, labelling the call as unfair, considering it was his debut ODI series. But former India opener Gautam Gambhir holds a different opinion and does not rate Iyer too highly in ODI cricket.


In an interaction with Star Sports, Gambhir reckoned that Venkatesh should be considered for selection only in the shortest-format of the game momentarily. Referring to the all-rounder's lack of maturity, Gambhir opined that Iyer should be kept away from ODI cricket.


"I feel he should only be considered for T20 cricket. Because he doesn't have that level of maturity yet. He has been given an opportunity to play international level after watching him in only 7-8 IPL matches. If you are going by IPL performances, then play him in T20 cricket. ODI is a completely different ball game and a completely different beast," Gambhir said on Star Sports.


As Iyer opens for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Gambhir feels that if the Indian team is too adamant to play him in the ODIs, then they should ask the franchise to slot him in the middle-order.


"Iyer has opened in IPL, now he is playing in the middle order. Send him back if you are considering him for ODI cricket then tell his IPL franchise to play him in the middle order. But I feel he should be kept for T20s only, that too as an opener, if he plays at that position in IPL," Gambhir added.


India will next play West Indies in a limited-overs series at home and it’ll be interesting to see if Iyer gets yet another chance in that series.

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