Venkatesh Iyer X AADAR Cover

Charu Jain: You have played for the IPL Team Kolkata Knight Riders and you have also debuted for the Indian Cricket Team already. How was the feeling?

Venkatesh Iyer: It was great. The beauty of this Sport is that you are not playing it alone. Even though you play it alone technically, you get the opportunity to represent a team. When you are representing multiple people, that in itself is a beautiful feeling. So, when I got the opportunity to represent my city first, that was an honour. Then I got to represent my state, then when I got to play in the IPL for a reputed franchiser, that was great. They won IPL twice, they have got a rich history. I think it was an absolute honour to represent my franchise. When I was picked in the IPL, I was really happy that okay my efforts are now getting the results that I wanted. It felt really good when I was picked in the IPL and subsequently, I went on to play for India. Representing your country is always the highest level of honour that you could achieve. So, that is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

CJ: Sharing dressing room with modern day great players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and others. How did it feel? Were you excited, nervous?

VI: The excitement level is always there like when you enter the dressing room, to your left there are legends, to your right there are legends. And then your coach – Rahul Dravid Sir. When you are surrounded by legends, that doesn’t make you feel nervous. That makes you feel good that you are doing something right in life. My first experience in the Indian dressing room was very warm. The way everyone welcomed me. I remember Rishabh coming up and speaking to me and Rohit bhai, being the captain of the side, he spoke to me for a very long time on how he is looking at me for future prospects, Rahul sir came and gave me a proper welcome. Once I got in the dressing room, I understood even though this is a professional setup, the way everyone treats each other is so warm and welcoming that they just make you feel like a family. Those were Covid times when the bio-bubble scenario was there so it was all the more important for us to stick together. We didn’t have the option of going out anywhere, so it was great. A family away from family so, it really felt good.

CJ: Since you were also doing CA and MBA, how was your parents reaction when you thought of taking up Cricket as a career instead of a settled job?

VI: One thing is really clear that even though I am playing, it’s not my individual effort. It is the backing of my entire family, my coaches. So, what goes behind a cricketer is an entire team, be it his family, his coaches, his friends who supported him in times where he needed them. I am blessed to have a family that has always been backing me irrespective of whatever has happened. We know that this is a game full of ups and downs, where you don’t get instant results. There will be times where the results are not coming your way but I think it really is important that you receive the perfect kind of backing at that time and I got that. Also the thing with me is I come from an orthodox South-Indian family so the importance of education has always been there and I never consider Education as secondary, Cricket as primary or vice versa. I think both go hand in hand. Once my matches are finished, once my training is finished, I believe that I can go back and study, I can gain more education just to keep me competent enough with the modern day world. I’ve always had backup plans for everything. Once I decided to give up Chartered Accountancy because I was getting very tight with my schedule, I thought I will pursue a degree in MBA and again it would have been very difficult for me but the way my faculty treated me, the support that they extended in my college was absolutely amazing. They knew that I am a professional cricketer and there will be a lot of days when I will have to go on tours or for practice. They gave me the liberty to do both and ultimately I completed my post grad and I am really proud about that.

CJ: Do you consider yourself more of a batting all-rounder or a bowling all-rounder?

VI: I started bowling really late. I used to keep wickets when I was young, bowling was nowhere close to me but then since I am very tall, I started facing issues with wicket-keeping so I started bowling in the nets and that’s how I developed bowling. I worked with my coach Anand Rajan, who himself is an ex-IPL player. He is now the coach of the Uttarakhand team. He is my coach and mentor so he encouraged me to bowl and he worked on my bowling technique and fortunately it came out good. All these years have taught me only one thing – The way I think about my game will be the reality. If I think I am a batting all-rounder, then I will be favouring my batting and if I think I am a bowling all-rounder, then I will be favouring my bowling. So, I would call myself an all-rounder who can bat and ball not giving extra weightage to any particular skill.

CJ: What would be your advice to youngsters on how to deal with setbacks and failures?

VI: In Cricket, there is more failure than success. There will be a lot of days where you will get runs but there will be even more days where you will get out early or you will not end up taking wickets. The key to longevity in Cricket is having a lot of patience and see there are two very important things which I feel that are required for Cricket that is Discipline and Fitness. If you are lacking in any one of this, it is going to be extremely difficult to have a good cricketing career. And the passion for the game is so much. Everyone loves the game literally, you go to any part of the country, you will find people playing cricket in the streets irrespective of what the scenario is, what is going on around the country. That is the love for the game and if we are getting the opportunity to play a game that is loved and worshipped by billions then I think there is no other beautiful feeling in the world than to play Cricket.

CJ: Apart from Cricket, who is Venkatesh Iyer? What other sports do you like?

VI: I do like Lawn Tennis a lot. Nadal is my favourite player, he is also my inspiration when it comes to fitness. Like every other Indian guy, I do like to hang out with friends and try different food and all. Now that I am on a restricted diet, thanks to my nutritionist. I think I really forgot what it feels to go street by street and try the food items but I have been a huge foodie and that’s it I am leading a very normal life.

RAPID FIRE ROUND:

Favourite Cricketer – Saurav Ganguly

Favourite Food – Sambar Rice

Your Cricket Idol – Saurav Ganguly

Favourite Actress – Nayantara

Passtime – Go for a walk, Read a book

What would be your Superpower, if given – I hate travelling. So, I would like to Teleport myself

Weirdest thing a fan has done – Mobbing my house, exciting plus scary

Biggest/ Weirdest fear you have – I don’t know if it makes sense but I have now started fearing Trampolines

CJ: How is King Khan?

VI: All the times the first question Shahrukh sir has asked me is not how are you but the first question he has asked me is how are your parents doing back home, which shows how caring he is. A man of that stature doesn’t even need to ask what we are doing, how we are doing but the care he shows. I remember the testing times of Covid where he called us and spoke to us and I didn’t even make my debut that time, he called me and spoke for a long time, asked me if my parents require anything back home, any assistance, anything that he can do which shows that he is so caring as a franchise owner and we have all admired him for what he has done. My mom is an absolute fan of him. Even the mention of Shahrukh sir, is Shahrukh sir coming, is Shahrukh sir gonna call, he is going to do a video interview, these things also give us goosebumps

CJ: What are your future goals?

VI: Ultimate objective is to make India win tournaments, World Cup and things like that. I am someone who has short term goals, so I just want to come back to full fitness and give everything for the game I love.