On Friday, September 16, at the SNR College Cricket Ground in Coimbatore, the current Duleep Trophy witnessed some terrifying sights during the match between West Zone and Central Zone. Indian international Venkatesh Iyer experienced a serious medical scare during the first innings of Central Zone’s second innings of play on the second day of action.
Venkatesh guarded the subsequent delivery back to him after hitting Chitan Gaja for a six. However, the bowler aggressively fired the ball back at him, striking Venkatesh in the neck in the process. The batter almost instantly collapsed on the ground, clearly in pain. As an ambulance and stretcher were brought to the scene, there was much worry among everyone on the scene.
To the relief of those watching, Venkatesh ultimately managed to stand up and chose to go back to the dressing room rather than use the stretcher or take an ambulance to the hospital. He eventually returned to bat, but Tanush Kotian quickly removed him after his 16-run innings.
After being left out of all forms, Venkatesh is attempting to reclaim his spot on the Indian team. Venkatesh did not find himself in the running for a berth in the T20 World Cup despite a promising start to his T20I career. The 27-year-old was removed from the starting XI after Hardik Pandya returned, and he has since been removed from the team.
He had a dismal 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) season as a result of his troubles, which prompted questions about his form. Last year, Venkatesh made his ODI debut in South Africa and his international debut in the home series against New Zealand. He has participated in 9 T20I games overall, scoring 133 runs at a 162.2 strike rate, while only two ODIs have seen him wear the blue shirt.
