Venkatesh Iyer made his ODI debut versus South Africa in the 1st ODI of the three-match series. The youngster gave a good account of himself as he pulled off a stunning direct hit to send Aiden Markram back to the pavilion after just 4 runs. However, he was not properly utilised in the game by KL Rahul, as per the opinion of Akash Chopra.
Iyer, an all-rounder who rose to prominence on the back of some stunning performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) didn't bowl in Paarl despite the Indian bowlers struggling to pick wickets at Boland Park.
Former Indian opener Akash Chopra feels that KL Rahul should instead consider other players like Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan in place of Iyer if he's not banking on the youngster's all-round capabilities.
Speaking to Star Sports, Aakash Chopra said, "That baffled me. With regards to not bowling Venkatesh Iyer, it's not only KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma did the same thing in the 2 T20Is against New Zealand. He was bowled only after India won the series he bowled."
He further continued, "It's now his 4th game for India and he has been on the field for close to 110 overs, he has bowled I think only 2-3 overs and that too in a dead rubber. I can't make head or tail of it. If he is not going to bowl, then play either Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan."
Team India struggled in their bowling on Wednesday as they gave away 296 runs with Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen scoring their respective centuries. As many as three Indian bowlers failed to pick up a single wicket, and thus Chopra was baffled why KL Rahul didn't opt for Iyer.
Even Shardul Thakur, India's other all-rounder gave away runs aplenty with a rate of 7 runs per over. India need 297 runs to win, and the Men in Blue had scored 74/1 at the time of writing.
In the meanwhile, you can catch all the live updates from India vs South Africa 1st ODI on our live blog here.
