Venkatesh Iyer: 'I'm thinking about dominating through my bowling too'

Venkatesh Iyer thought he was having a pretty good 2022. An ODI debut, a few quickfire knocks at No. 6 in T20Is in the absence of Hardik Pandya, and he says he was at his fittest in the IPL that year, even though he didn't score that many runs in the tournament. But when he was turning his T20 form around with blazing knocks in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) for Madhya Pradesh, he fell down the stairs in the team hotel and broke his ankle.

After a disappointing IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022 in which he managed just 182 runs in 12 innings and averaged under 17, Iyer's next T20 series to get some runs under his belt was the SMAT. He started by blasting an unbeaten 62 off 31 at No. 3 against Rajasthan and grabbed a career-best 6 for 20, followed it with a 57 off 35 at No. 4 opposite Mumbai, then a 42 off 29 at No. 5 against Uttarakhand and a 28 off 22 facing Railways. With an average of 63 and strike rate of 161.53 after just four innings, Iyer heard that he was going to be picked for the New Zealand T20Is in November, before he dislocated his ankle which required surgery.

It took him four months to get back on the field, in February 2023, when he was cleared for one Ranji Trophy game only as a batter, and then for IPL 2023 also purely as a batter, and another five months until he could start bowling again in domestic cricket.

"I've always wanted to contribute in all three departments," he tells ESPNcricinfo before the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season. "When there's a problem with one, it feels like I'm not completely committed to my team. Obviously, there was an injury but when I can contribute in all three, the magnitude of contribution can differ, I think I'll sleep peacefully. That's what I was missing for a long time. Now that I'm bowling, I'm bowling long spells, bowling with the new ball, in SMAT [2023] also I bowled with the new ball. I'm seeing new dimensions of my bowling and batting, so it feels good."

The 2023 IPL was his first full series back from injury, and the pressure was mounting after a poor campaign the previous year, because he couldn't bowl yet, and because being an India player now, he was being seen as Pandya's back-up in the middle order. But even before he picked up the bat that IPL, he had benefited from two major factors. One was the introduction of the Impact Player rule, so he could be swapped in and out just for his batting. And the second was KKR had roped in Chandrakant Pandit, the MP coach, as their head coach. Iyer had the rather rare benefit of having the same coach in his domestic side and in his IPL team.

Pandit and KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar decided to bat Iyer at No. 3 because their regular No. 3 and captain Shreyas Iyer was out with an injury.

"It meant I would play multiple roles," Iyer says. "If we're batting first, I can anchor. If we're chasing around 200, I have to go for it from ball one. The role was communicated properly and this season I did a lot of following rather than thinking myself. I did a lot of what Abhishek Nayar told me to do and that worked for me. Even if it didn't, I was really happy with that because he was able to justify why I need to do and that gave me a lot of clarity to go out there and make decisions. It was very challenging but good fun."

Iyer repaid that faith and the backing he got with his most prolific IPL season: 404 runs from 14 outings, striking at nearly 146, and a scintillating century against Mumbai Indians. He revealed the seeds for a successful 2023 season were sown in 2022, first with Nayar in the IPL and then with Pandit during the domestic season.

"I've never measured the game with respect to the runs I've scored or wickets I've taken," he says. "I think 2022 was my best [IPL] in terms of the discipline I showed towards myself. Despite the failures that I had, I never missed a single practice session, I would always spend hours with Abhishek Nayar to work on my batting skills, bowling, fielding, fitness, diet as well. That was a phase that I didn't cheat with even 1% with my diet. I was trying my best, but it was not happening, the runs weren't coming. During IPL 2022 he identified that my batting wasn't going well despite my hard work."

The instance that kicked off the camaraderie between them was when Nayar spotted Iyer batting waywardly in the nets and felt the need to interrupt. "This is not how we're going to approach…" Iyer recalls being told by Nayar, "that's how it started. And I was constantly in touch with him when I was injured before the last IPL. To start from there, to give mental strength. I spent a lot of time with him in Mumbai - from my gym to training to basic cricket practice, he covered multiple facets of the game. Obviously with this injury I couldn't play certain shots because the ankle wasn't so free. So how to cover for that, how to prepare for different conditions and grounds…he helped a lot with mental strength and the key to his coaching is communication.

"In the 2022 IPL there was bio-bubble also, so it was all the more depressing. Abhishek Nayar played a very important role at that time to bring us together. Not just cricket, but his life traits are also sharp. Just the way he looked at life in general was something amazing for me. He has an answer for almost everything. I used to have deep conversations with him at the time in his room because we couldn't leave the hotel. Good food, good discussions, watching some inspirational movies, it was tough but as long as you're understanding that you're not shifting away from the game, you'll be fine."

A few months after the 2022 IPL, Iyer joined the MP squad for the SMAT, and Pandit said he wanted to make Iyer a more "versatile" batter by batting him at different positions.

"I played just three-four games in Mushtaq Ali last year," Iyer recalls. "I was batting at No. 4 and 3, and I was supposed to open the next day, but I had that injury. So I was going to bat in all positions in that tournament. This was Chandu sir's calculative decision, it would be better for the team also. I was very happy when he had said, 'I'll provide multiple roles to you, just want to see how you respond in all of them'. That's what you want as a batsman, how you are maturing in these kinds of situations."

Call it Pandit's foresight so that Iyer was better prepared for a middle-order role in his next India series, or another one of the astute coach's strategies for both MP and KKR.

Compared to when he made his T20I debut in late 2021 and had to play the finisher's role while he was originally a top-order batter in domestic cricket, Iyer feels he is much better equipped for the middle order now. He not only has more experience and runs under his belt at different positions now, he has also started bowling full time and is back to being a proper allrounder.

"Now I know what it takes to go there (the Indian team), it's just a matter of time before I make my comeback," he says confidently. "One good IPL I'll be there, one good domestic season I'll be there provided I keep bowling. Once you score a lot of runs in domestic and in IPL, to go back to the Indian team and play any role is…you will get that acceptance. Say, if I score a lot of runs while opening in the IPL, and I go to the Indian team and I know I'm going to play No. 6, that preparation will start there. But for that to happen I need to score runs here and to score big runs I feel batting at the top is extremely important to get maximum balls. Now I know what it is like to prepare to bat at No. 6, 5 or 4. So it doesn't really matter to me, all I want to do is score big runs so that when I go there, I have the confidence of runs in my arsenal."

Two months after a cracking IPL in 2023, Iyer gradually increased his bowling workload in the nets and was named the Central Zone captain for the Deodhar Trophy. In the sapping heat and humidity of Puducherry, he returned to bowling in competitive cricket after a long wait and took advantage of being the captain to manage his bowling workload. In October he bowled in all five SMAT T20s and in the subsequent 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, he started getting close to the full quota of 10 overs. Iyer feels he is now ready to bowl long spells along with some variations in the Ranji Trophy that begins on January 5.

"I think I can bowl around 15-20 overs a day," he says. "NCA had a huge role in my workload management. I worked with Troy Cooley there on my bowling, even Sairaj Bahutule sir was there. They and the trainers paid a lot of attention on my workload. They managed it very well - like heavy bowling on one day, light bowling and training the next day. I think I'm good to bowl long spells in days cricket.

"[Full bowling fitness] will come with the volume, as much as I get to bowl in games. But I'm extremely happy with the way I'm approaching my bowling right now. Rather than just running in to bowl, now I'm thinking about how to pick wickets, dominating through my bowling, so I feel I'm ready back to 100%.

"I am adding a couple of variations to my bowling. For a player like me it's very important to be accurate, even if I have two or three variations. I need to ensure that they are landing where I want them to land. I'm really happy that the red-ball season is coming now because red-ball bowling will give you a lot of consistency. With the white ball, you have to bowl a yorker, you might go for a bouncer or a cutter…things like that. Red-ball bowling is about discipline, the muscle memory will work, I'll be able to land the ball in the right areas. Once I'm confident with the basic ball, then I can play around with it - same line, same length but from a different angle or from a different spot on the crease, just a little slower or faster, things like that. I feel I'm on the right track now.

"This red-ball season I want to enjoy and explore my game, I want to bat for long hours. I really want to contribute in terms of batting, bowling, and fielding this season. So, let's see, this Ranji Trophy wherever I get to bat maybe top of the order, you never know with Chandu sir. He's very unpredictable, suddenly he'll call you up in the evening and tell you, 'Venkatesh, you're opening tomorrow'. And he'll give you the proper backing, he'll give you the confidence to go out there and do it. He knows that if you have the skills, you'll do it. He always likes to challenge players and I feel when you're challenged, you'll always get better."

The last time Iyer played an entire Ranji season was back in 2019-20. It was before his IPL debut, before he burst onto the international scene and before he had turned 25. With seven league games ahead of him, Iyer will hope he climbs the ladder towards another India call-up instead of slipping down the pecking order. Or the stairs.