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That really hurt me: Venkatesh Iyer speaks World Cup exclusion


image-latk1xhdVenkatesh Iyer made his India debut in November 2021

The rise of Venkatesh Iyer in the Indian white-ball setup was next to none. After a fantabulous season in the Indian Premier League, the KKR allrounder was first asked to be in the Indian nets for the 2021 T20 World Cup before he earned his maiden national cap during the T20Is against New Zealand that same year. 

The Indian management tried to mould Venkatesh as a replacement for Hardik Pandya, but that could not happen. To match the prowess of someone like Pandya is tough and it becomes twice the hard when asked a top-order batter to reconstruct his game as a finisher. 

After testing the Madhya Pradesh cricketer for a bunch of series, the Indian team management decided to drop the all-rounder after he endured a mediocre IPL season.

The batting allrounder, who last played for India in February 2022, recently opened up about his T20 World Cup exclusion.

"When I was called into the Indian cricket team, I felt I could play in the World Cup and then I was not there. That really hurt me," Venkatesh commented while talking to Cricketnext.com.

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old also explained why he was dropped from the Indian setup while expressing guilt for not being able to play in the ICC tournament. 

"Who doesn’t want to have a long run with the Indian team? Even though I wanted that, I clearly understood the way Hardik bhai came back. Every team wants to pick the best team for the World Cup. I would have wanted to be there, but again it’s not in my hands."

Currently, Venkatesh is sustaining an ankle injury which ruled him out of this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy; still, the Kolkata franchise retained him for INR 8 crores.


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