Venkatesh Iyer, India all-rounder, collapses during Duleep Trophy match

Ventakesh Iyer, the Indian all-rounder, collapsed during the Duleep Trophy semi-final match between the Central Zone and West Zone teams after being hit on the back of his head by a Chintan Gaja throw. The match was being played in Coimbatore.

The 27-year-old all-rounder began his knock with a six off Gaja’s ball. In the very next ball, which Iyer struck back to Gaja, the latter threw it right back at him. The ball struck Iyer on his head and he immediately fell to the ground, writhing in pain. An ambulance had to be brought onto the field in order to check on the injured cricketer.

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The injury later proved to be not that serious, with Iyer continuing to bat after receiving treatment. The Indore native managed to amass 14 runs before he was dismissed by a Het Patel catch off a Tanush Kotiyan delivery.

When the West Zone came out to bat, Iyer was not among the opponent fielders and was replaced by Ashok Menaria.

At the end of Day 2, the West Zone, who are batting in their second innings at 130/3, are leading by 259 runs. They scored 257 in their first innings, thanks to a 78-ball 60 by Prithvi Shaw and a 151-ball 67 by Rahul Tripathi. In response, the Central Zone were able to put up a total of 128, with West Zone bowlers like Jaydev Unadkat and Kotiyan (three wickets each) restricting their batters to a highest individual score of 34 (by Karan Sharma, the Central Zone captain).

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Venkatesh Iyer has been plying his trade in the domestic circuit after his last international match for India in the T20I encounter against Sri Lanka at Dharmashala on February 27, 2022. Iyer has played in nine T20I matches till date, registering five scalps and amassing a total of 133 runs. He has also played two ODI matches for the senior team.