"He looks a very bright prospect for us" - Rohit Sharma hails Venkatesh Iyer after IND vs NZ 2021 T20Is

Indian T20I skipper Rohit Sharma was all praise for emerging all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer on Sunday. He called Iyer a "very bright prospect", hailing his composure, clarity in approach and adaptability.

Rohit Sharma was speaking to the press after India capped a dominating clean-sweep over a depleted New Zealand side with a 73-run win in Kolkata on Sunday. Venkatesh Iyer, who played all three games in his debut series, showed gradual improvement with the bat, while also bowling three overs in the final match.

Rohit Sharma said:

"The plan is to keep him in the mix as much as we can. At the same time, we need to give him a role of where to bat. He doesn't usually bat in this role; for his franchise he bats up the order and it's going to be tough for him to bat up the order so we've given him a role to bat at probably 5, 6,7 in the lower-middle order. See he can do the job for us. Today he looked quite composed for whatever time he was in there. He was clear in his mindset and had a good approach for whatever he wanted to do. You saw his bowling skills. He looks a very bright prospect for us."

Rohit Sharma exuded confidence that Venkatesh Iyer's gentle yet accurate medium-pacer could "do the job" for India. He, however, admitted that it's still early days for the 26-year-old who needs to be assessed further.

The skipper added:

"Clearly he's got the skills. In terms of his bowling skills as well he can get the job done for us. It's about giving him that confidence, making him play as much as he can and seeing if he can deliver for us. It's still early days. He's played only three games and has not much of an opportunity to make an impact. But going forward we'll definitely keep an eye on him."

In all, Venkatesh Iyer collected 36 runs from three games while batting mostly in the middle order. His knocks included a decent cameo of 20 (15) in Kolkata which helped India recover from four quick wickets.

He was brought into bowl for arguably the easiest overs - either when the opposition looked to rebuild from wickets or when the result was already clear. It was a tangible attempt by the management to keep the youngster at ease in his maiden series. Iyer's first wicket came in the form of pacer Adam Milne in the 16th over via a wide slower ball caught by Rohit Sharma at extra cover.

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"If you keep bowling the way we have, we don't need the sixth and seventh bowling option" - Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma also talked about the sixth bowling option's importance to his team - a strategy he didn't deploy in the first two games. He suggested that he sees the sixth bowling option as "a nice cushion" but which will not be required if the main bowlers continue to do their job well.

Rohit Sharma added:

"Among our top five batsmen right now, only Surya and Shreyas can bowl a bit but they are not regular bowlers. They haven't bowled regularly. But see, however much depth we have is good for us. For now, our bowling, if you keep bowling the way we have, we don't need the sixth and seventh bowling option. If your five bowlers do the job then you don't need other options. But for a captain it's a nice cushion if you have the sixth and seventh option."

Rohit Sharma will now take a much-needed break from international cricket as India get ready to play New Zealand in a two-match Test series. The first will begin on November 25 at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium.