Team India was thrashed by the Proteas in the first ODI at Paarl as the visitors fell short of 31 runs in their chase of 297. Venkatesh Iyer, who showed sparks of brilliance in the IPL made his debut in the limited-overs format for India. However, what surprised the viewers and even the on-air commentators that the all-rounder was not used at all as far as bowling was concerned.
Venkatesh Iyer is an all-rounder who can provide his services for the team in both departments. While the viewers felt that the team will give him some overs, surprisingly, he didn’t bowl a single ball in the entire match. The decision of not giving the ball to Venkatesh Iyer, not even a single over, met with a lot of bewilderment. Now, the Indian opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has revealed why Iyer’s services as a bowler were not used.
Shikhar Dhawan reveals why Venkatesh Iyer didn’t bowl
While the Indian bowlers looked effective in the initial stage, the duo of Bavuma and Van Der Dussen did all the talking after the 18th over. When the Proteas’ batsmen were dominating the game, the fans thought that Venkatesh Iyer will be tried as a bowler. However, Shikhar Dhawan revealed that the team didn’t actually need Iyer to bowl because the spinners were doing a good job. The wicket was fairly slow and the ball was turning for the spinners. Dhawan added that when they needed the wickets, they used their main bowlers.
“We didn’t need him because the spinners did well and there was some turn in the wicket. Fast bowlers were mostly used at the end. In the middle-overs when the wicket was not falling, our thinking was to bring back the main bowlers to get the breakthrough but we couldn’t do that. Then, in the ned, it was important to bring our main bowlers, like our spinners,” revealed Dhawan in the post-match press conference.
The Indian batsmen failed to chase the target which looked well within their reach and they were on the course when Kohli and Dhawan were batting fluently. After the 92-run partnership broke, the South African bowlers didn’t let any other Indian batsman settle as they kept chipping with wickets. Team India lost 8 wickets and the target proved way too difficult for the lower order to handle.