‘Sab captain jaisa hi banana chahte hai’ – fans react as Venkatesh Iyer praise Hardik Pandya and calls him India’s top allrounder

Star India allrounder Venkatesh Iyer has praised Gujarat Titans and India T20I skipper Hardik Pandya. In a recent interview, Iyer said that Hardik has all the skills to become the top all-rounder in India. He also admitted that Hardik is far better than him, and he is not even near the Gujarat skipper.

On the question of him getting replaced by Hardik Pandya in the Indian team, Iyer said that India has plenty of options. “In India, there is a problem of plenty. And then, when you look at Hardik, he’s got the skills to be India’s top all-rounder. And if I have to cement my place in the 11, I have to be as good as him, which I’m nowhere near at this point. This is the truth, and I have to accept that. But I’ll be working towards it. And once I’m confident in my bowling, I think I can contribute to all departments. It’s just about my bowling, which I’m working hard on.”

Further speaking about getting dropped in the World Cup year, Iyer said that if he doesn’t fit in the combinations, what will he do being in the national team? “No, I don’t think so. That’s how it works, right? Especially in a World Cup year, where you need to get your best combination, I don’t see it as being dropped because someone else has come. See, everyone wants India to win, and to make India win, they want to give the best possible combination.”

“And if I don’t fit in the best combination, then what will I do being on the team? I don’t want to be on the team and just be there; I want to play and contribute. So yeah, I look at it that way. It allows me to get better and gives them more reason to pick me for the team. Hardik Pandya has the skills to be India’s top all-rounder. I’ve got to be as good as him to seal my place in the 11, but I’m nowhere close currently.”

That wouldn’t have counted: Venkatesh Iyer on his IPL 2023 performance

In this year’s Indian Premier League, Venkatesh Iyer was phenomenal throughout the tournament for the Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored more than 400 runs and was phenomenal for KKR. However, Iyer doesn’t count it as a successful season, as he believes that if the team did better, his contribution might have counted more.

He said, “Yeah, that is something that I thought of. After five matches, I was wearing the Orange cap, and I had scored around 250 runs. I think I should’ve finished with more. But for me, the best season would be one where, even if I’ve scored only 200 runs, the team has made it big.”

“So if the team finished seventh, even if I had scored 600 runs, that wouldn’t have counted. But yeah, I judge myself by how I improve as a cricketer. This year again, I understood my batting a lot, I worked on it, and I am looking forward to the next season”, Iyer told Sportskeeda.

Iyer also praised KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit. He said, “I enjoyed playing under both of them. I had already played under Chandu Bhai; we all know how amazing his tactics are. Of course, they would go unnoticed with the result, but there were so many moments that saw the Chandu sir magic.”

Here is how fans reacted to Venkatesh Iyer’s comments on Hardik Pandya: