IPL 2021: Virat Kohli shares batting tips with Venkatesh Iyer after latter’s debut against RCB

Left-handed batter Venkatesh Iyer didn’t show any signs of nerves on his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders. On Monday, September 20, the southpaw scored 41 off 27 with seven fours and one six, helping the Men in Gold and Purple chase down 93 with 10 overs to spare. Iyer was also involved in an 82-run partnership off 55 balls along with fellow opener Shubman Gill.

Iyer went on to stay unbeaten and took the Knights to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. However, his moment to savour came after the conclusion of the game. Following KKR’s resounding win, RCB skipper Virat Kohli shared some valuable batting tips with the 26-year-old batter from Madhya Pradesh.

KKR shared a video where Iyer was seen watching the 32-year-old Kohli with a lot of concentration. In the clip, Virat was heard talking to Iyer about the art of facing short-pitched deliveries.

Here’s the video involving Venkatesh Iyer

 

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A post shared by Kolkata Knight Riders (@kkriders)

Iyer also drew praises from Gill, who has been with the Knights since 2018. Gill said that the Knights decided to go in with Iyer since the latter was hitting the ball well in the warm-up games.

“Venkatesh Iyer was batting well in the practice matches as well, to bat and have such a great performance on debut is pleasing,” Gill was quoted as saying.

Kohli, meanwhile, was a tad disappointed after the RCB slumped to the hefty loss. The RCB captain said that the defeat was a ‘wake-up call’ and the team needs to make a comeback. He admitted that the Challengers couldn’t get out of jail.

“Was important to get a good partnership. We didn’t expect that much dew to kick in that early. From 42 for 1, we lost 5 wickets for 20-odd. Bit of a wake-up call, might as well have this at the start of the second leg so that we know what we should work on,” Kohli said after the game.

“You can make the argument that we were rusty but as professionals you’re expected to turn up and adjust. Sometimes it can take you a game, I hope not two, to get into the tournament, you have to stay with the eight-ball, if you’re not, the other teams will be all over you,” Kohli added.