'A Fleming clone, terrific for India in future': Ponting, Hussey's praise for KKR player

The Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Delhi Capitals on Wednesday to reach the finals of the IPL 2021 where they will face MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. It has been a great turnaround for the men in Gold and purple after a poor start in the first leg of the tournament where the team was in the bottom half of the IPL 2021 points table.

The Indian Premier League has been the stepping stone for some of the bright talents over the years and this year was no different as well. The success of Kolkata Knight Riders can be attributed to Venkatesh Iyer who has been responsible for providing an explosive start to the team at the top of the order. Iyer along with Shubman Gill has been instrumental in KKR managing to post a good total on board or chasing down the target. on Wednesday, Venkatesh Iyer produced yet another fantastic performance with the bat that set the tone for KKR's win in the IPL 2021 Qualifier 2. Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting was full of praise for the youngster and spoke about him having a bright future with Team India.

IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Pointing backs Venkatesh Iyer to debut for India

Venkatesh Iyer was an unknown identity as he failed to get any match during the first leg of the tournament. However, the youngster was handed a chance in the UAE leg which he seized with both hands.  After his performance in Qualifier 2 Delhi Capital coach Ricky Ponting feels that the KKR team has found a good player in the form of the all-rounder.

Praising Venkatesh Iyer, Ponting in the post-match interview said, "The opening stand today for KKR, I thought they did a great job and I think they've actually found a really good player there in Venkatesh Iyer. He looks like someone that could be a terrific player for Kolkata and maybe even India in the future."

KKR mentor David Hussey was also full of praise for the youngster. Hussey said, "He struck the ball superbly from ball one. Some of those big sixes he hit actually changed the tempo of the game and got us into a winning position. He's just a class player at the top. He is tall, a Stephen Fleming clone, I believe. He's got a big future in the game."

Venkatesh Iyer stats

Coming to Venkatesh Iyer IPL 2021 stats, the left-hander has scored 320 runs and registered three half-centuries in the 9 matches played so far at an average of 40 and strike rate of 125. The 26-year-old has been decent with the ball as well when been asked to bowl picking up 3 wickets in the same number of matches at an economy of 8.53