'All the captains have different styles of captaincy' - Venkatesh Iyer lauds Shreyas Iyer’s aura above all other captains [Exclusive]

During an exclusive interaction with CricTracker, Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyeropened up on the communication he has had with the selectors regarding his role of contributing holistically with bat

and ball. The Indore-born also acknowledged the role of the Impact Player rule while linking it to why he has not bowled in the Indian Premier League since the past three editions. However, Venkatesh admitted that he has been working hard on his bowling as well.

The Madhya Pradesh cricketer, who has been an active part of the IPL since 2021, also commented on his experience of playing under different captains. However, reserved massive praise for his ex-Kolkata Knight Riders teammate and 2024 captain Shreyas Iyer, adding that the latter's leadership deserves a special mention after how he led the side to winning their third title in the cash-rich tournament.

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Excerpts from the exclusive interview:

You have played 11 white-ball international games. Have you received any communication from the selection committee on your exclusion from the team?

When I was playing, Hardik [Pandya] bhai was not a part of the team. You would expect me to do the job both with bat and ball. Unfortunately, I have not been able to deliver with the ball. I do accept that I was a little inconsistent with the bat as well. But I am doing my hard work. I am putting in the hard yards. The conversation with the selectors is always about trying to accumulate the runs. Trying to bowl more and pick wickets. Good things will follow. So, obviously, whenever I speak to selectors who come to watch our Ranji games or during the IPL, the talk is about how I can be more consistent and do more with the ball.

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We have not seen you bowling in the last three IPL seasons. Do you look at yourself as a batting all-rounder or a pure batter?

Obviously, I am an all-rounder. Unfortunately, with the coming of the Impact Player rule in the IPL, the scope for batters who can bowl a bit has gone down substantially. You don't see Nitish Kumar Reddy or Shivam Dube or me, Ramandeep, bowling a lot because teams have the advantage of getting a sixth bowler in. Especially in our team, where despite getting a sixth bowler, we have Andre Russell as well, who is a proper all-rounder. So, in their presence, it gets really tough for a captain to give me an over. But yes, it does give me the opportunity to fine-tune my skills so that I can be better as a bowler, and then they can consider me.

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We’ve seen you as a captain in a lot of games. Whose captaincy style from current or former captains suits you the most?

This is a tricky question. As with coaches, it's with captains also. All the captains have different styles of captaincy. Everyone has a different method of captaincy. I enjoyed playing under Rohit [Sharma] bhai. I made my debut under KL [Rahul] bhai. I have played under different captains. I loved playing with Eoin Morgan. Outstanding captain. If I had to pick one purely based on aura, it would be Shreyas Iyer.