Surprised with the way KKR have handled Venkatesh Iyer: WV Raman

Former India player WV Raman feels Kuldeep Yadav is looking a lot more calmer and that’s one of the key reasons why he has done well so far for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League 2022. However, the 56-year-old is not impressed with the way Kolkata Knight Riders have handled Venkatesh Iyer. 

Talking about Kuldeep, the left-arm wristspinner has claimed 13 wickets in seven encounters and is currently the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. “He is a lot more calmer in his mind and that’s why he is relying a lot more on his stock deliveries,” WV Raman told Cricket.com.

“In the earlier times, he was far too uncertain and was trying too many things. He was trying to do everything which was mentally possible. But now he is able to focus better and it’s important for any bowler. You talk about Chahal, Narine, Ashwin or Jadeja - they all concentrate on landing their stock deliveries where they want to and that’s what Kuldeep is doing. He is able to get the wrong’uns going as well and that’s obviously going to bamboozle the batters.” 

WV Raman has also been impressed with the way Prithvi Shaw and David Warner have operated in this competition. The two have managed to put up four 50-plus partnerships in five innings but despite that Delhi have won only three of their seven matches. “They have put up quite a few good partnerships and have gelled well. 

“These two are coming together from different sides and have struck a good partnership. Shaw has been with the Delhi team for quite some time and Warner has blended in pretty nicely. The middle-order though is a problem. The momentum these two provide, that’s difficult to carry on through the innings but they have been on and off when it comes to utilising the tail end of the innings.”  

Yes, Delhi’s middle-order has been inconsistent, and they have also failed to utlise Sarfaraz Khan properly. Mitchell Marsh, who was down with Covid, has also returned back to training and could feature in the game against Kolkata on Thursday (April 28). “Their four best overseas options are Powell, Marsh, Mustafizur and Warner,” said Raman.

“Marsh was not available and it’s going to be tough for him, but he has got some rest. They need to provide him as many overs as possible, especially with Sarfaraz Khan not being used well. That’s one trick they have missed very badly. He had a great first-class season and is also an attacking batter. If Delhi would have given him some confidence early on like Ricky Ponting has done to many young players, he would have done a lot better.” 

Meanwhile, KKR’s Venkatesh Iyer to hasn’t been in great form. The all-rounder, who was phenomenal in his debut season, was retained for INR 8 crore but has an average of just 18 and a strike rate of 102.43 in the ongoing tournament. He started IPL 2022 as an opener but has now been pushed to the middle-order, where he bats for India. 

“I am surprised with the way Venkatesh Iyer has been handled. KKR do have the bragging rights of unearthing Venkatesh Iyer but there he wasn’t used the way KKR used him. The franchise had to reassure him and give him that confidence by sticking with him at the top-order, where he did for them last year, but unfortunately, he has been used at different numbers. And, that hasn’t done his confidence any good.”

Raman said Kolkata are once again struggling to get their combination right and wouldn’t mind if Sri Lanka’s bowling all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne gets a game or two. “In terms of their playing XI, Delhi seem to be far more certain as to what they want to do. But, in terms of KKR, they haven’t been able to work out their combination as far as their foreign players are concerned. It’s always been the case with KKR. They have always had the problem of plenty, so they always have to bench a lot of highly-talented performers. That seems to be continuing and hasn’t been sorted out yet. 

“Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are fixed, which means they have got two slots to play around with. I still think Chamika Karunaratne should play and then it will be a tactical move between Sam Billings, Aaron Finch and Tim Southee, depending on where they are playing. Tough calls need to be made to get back to winning ways.”