Venkatesh Iyer has been one of those fastest rising stars in Indian cricket and the all-rounder has really made a name for himself during the second leg of IPL 2021 in UAE. After a string of stellar performances, he has earned a call-up to the national 16-member squad for the T20I series against New Zealand, which starts from November 17. Iyer had earlier referred to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly being his inspiration to take up batting, left-handed. Iyer also revealed the message shared to him by the former Indian captain after the IPL 2021 final where Kolkata Knight Riders lost to Chennai Super Kings. Rohit Sharma Named India's T20I Captain, BCCI Announces Squad For New Zealand Series

"When I was very young, I used to bat right-handed by watching Dada, I wanted to copy him, do everything like him so I became a left-handed batter. Feels nice when people compare me with him. Met Dada after the IPL final and it felt nice to speak to him. It was a very normal conversation. He said it is going well and told me to put more effort and hard work into my game. Instead of thinking about the result, focus on the process. Do that and you will automatically see the results," Iyer said, as quoted by Sports Tak.

The 26-year old had a stellar second half of IPL 2021 where he scored 370 runs in 10 games, with four half-centuries. He and Shubman Gill were responsible for Kolkata Knight Riders getting off to strong starts in the powerplay. He also proved to be pretty handy with the ball, picking up three wickets. His all-round abilities would be pretty useful to the Indian team, in the T20Is against New Zealand as he aims to fill in the shoes of Hardik Pandya or Shardul Thakur, both of whom did not find a place in the squad.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2021 06:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).