Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer was handed his India cap ahead of the first T20I against New Zealand in Jaipur. He will be playing as an all-rounder in the line-up. As of now he is slotted in at number six in the batting order and will bowl his quota of overs when required in the game.

Rohit Sharma’s India’s new T20I skipper handed over the cap to Venkatesh Iyer. He also spoke about the role of the all-rounder at the toss. Iyer himself had a chat with Star Sports ahead of the start of the game and spoke about his feeling of representing India. His IPL and Syed Mushtaq Ali credentials have played a huge role in the selectors recognising him for the series. He is a like for like replacement for Hardik Pandya who has struggled off late to get going for India.

“Everyone who plays cricket aspires to play for the country, so I feel good that I’ve been presented with this opportunity. Feels good to play under Rahul (Dravid) sir, I’m really excited and looking forward to it. As a cricketer you got to be flexible, and I’ll look to capitalise on the role I’ve been given. I’m ready to bat at any position, or bowl whenever I’ve been asked to. It’s wonderful to play in front of the (Indian) crowd, it’s great to have them back” said Iyer.

Venkatesh Iyer Gets His Cap From Rohit Sharma

The grin says it all! 😊

A moment to cherish for @ivenkyiyer2512 as he makes his #TeamIndia debut. 👏 👏#INDvNZ @Paytm pic.twitter.com/2cZJWZBrXf

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 17, 2021

The Twitterverse congratulated Iyer on getting his India cap. Wishes came pouring in from various quarters wishing him the very best for his international career.

Both Iyer play. Ishan misses out. Going by the comments to this, it felt that I committed blasphemy 😝🤪 https://t.co/iiGfMOvSbJ

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 17, 2021

Excited to see Venkatesh Iyer today. Interesting to see where and how does he bat #NZvsInd

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) November 17, 2021

All the best Venkatesh Iyer 💜

— r ★ (@itzzRashmi) November 16, 2021

https://twitter.com/rishu_1809/status/1460959140042338305?s=20

"I am really excited to play under Rohit Sharma, he is a great player. It will be a huge learning experience for me as a player – so it will be exciting to play under Rohit Bhai".

Venkatesh Iyer (in TOI) @ImRo45 | #RohitSharma | pic.twitter.com/e8W9ibxJpb

— ROHIT TV™ (@rohittv_45) November 10, 2021

#INDvsNZ All d best Venkatesh Iyer 👍

— Ajay Kumar Tung (Aju) (@ajaykumartung) November 17, 2021

What a rise. Debut for Venkatesh Iyer. Gives everyone out there at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy so much inspiration. #INDvNZ

— Sreshth Shah (@sreshthx) November 17, 2021

Good news ➡️ India win the toss & choose to bowl first!

Better News ➡️ VENKATESH IYER MAKES HIS DEBUT! 😍#INDvNZ #CricketTwitter

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) November 17, 2021

Just In: Venkatesh Iyer is making his India debut in the first T20I vs New Zealand 👏👏#VenkateshIyer #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/0xpOJjDUYQ

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) November 17, 2021

Venkatesh Iyer has been handed his cap by Rohit Sharma and will make his T20I debut for India tonight 👏 #INDvNZ

| #India | #RohitSharma | #Cricket | pic.twitter.com/oPP77teEZD

— ROHIT Era™ 🇮🇳 (@TheRohitEra) November 17, 2021

India have won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Sawai Man Singh stadium, which is hosting its first-ever T20I.

“We will bowl first. The wicket looks good, thought behind is to have a score behind us, there was quite a lot of dew while practising from a couple of days. It’s been good, has been only 2 days, been a quick turnaround, back from Dubai, spent a couple of days at home and back here. But it’ll be good for the team. We have Shreyas Iyer back, Venkatesh is debuting, Bhuvi, Siraj and Chahar are back. We’re playing three seamers and two spinners. We have one eye on the next World Cup, it’s a lot of time ahead, we’ll try our options” said Rohit at the toss.

Playing XI

India

Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand

Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

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