Under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) became the champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the third time, after winning the title back in 2012 and 2014. Iyer has done a great job of leading the side, especially after missing the whole last season due to injury.
Shreyas Iyer was also the captain of the Delhi Capitals (DC) during the 2020 season in the United Arab Emirates, which lost the final in Dubai against the Mumbai Indians (MI). That shows how excellent Iyer has been with his decisions to lead the troops in the middle.
Under Shreyas Iyer, Kolkata Knight Riders made a dream journey in the IPL 2024, where they won nine of the 14 games, at a net run rate (NRR) of around +1.428. They comfortably got the better of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in two back-to-back occasions in the first qualifier and the final.
‘I don’t think Shreyas Iyer is getting enough credit’ – Ian Bishop
Iyer’s captaincy decision where he has made a few tactical decisions has got so much praise from the former players. The KKR side made a remarkable comeback in the tournament as they went though the business on a consistent way.
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Former India batter, Robin Uthappa, who was a vital member for KKR in the past, has lauded Shreyas Iyer for his captaincy skills, and feels he could pip over Shubman Gill as the next India captain.
‘Shreyas Iyer can become the India captain and pip the likes of Shubman Gill,” Robin Uthappa expressed on Star Sports after the end of the final in IPL 2024.
‘He has shown commendable qualities. There were very strong personalities in that dressing room and he still navigated the whole season while learning things along the way. That’s not easy to do while performing and giving your best on the field. He also made the right decisions and calls on the field, which he did with utter dominance,” Uthappa observed in the discussion.
Shreyas Iyer used the experienced players like Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Andre Russell quite brilliantly, while the way he managed the young players like Vaibhav Arora or Harshit Rana deserves all the credit.
‘So that tell you a lot about his character and what he believes he is capable of.’ The former KKR opener spoke. ‘Because of that, he sets himself up in the right position and places himself in the conversation of being the next Indian captain.’
Even after a wonder ODI World Cup with the bat, Iyer was removed from the central contract, but Iyer made sure that these things won’t make any difference in him.
‘Even after everything he (Shreyas Iyer) went through- the World Cup, back injuries, not getting the central contract- amidst conjecture he has barely spoken about it. That shows he has his sights clear. We will see that this is the beginning of the leader he is,” Robin Uthappa pointed out.
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Even after this brilliant captaincy, most of the limelight of the success was going to the team’s mentor Gautam Gambhir. The former West Indies pacer and a famous commentator Ian Bishop told that Iyer deserves the credit.
‘I want to input my balance to this team (KKR) and that guy, Shreyas Iyer. I’ve heard a lot about Gautam Gambhir, who created a magnificent culture for this KKR team. But I don’t think Shreyas is getting enough credit. I’ve been saying it all season, and they came after me in social media.
“And not to forget, I think the bowling of KKR is understated.’ Bishop concluded. ‘So, I just wanted to get that out there. So, these two (Gambhir and other KKR coaches) and Shreyas need some credit,” Ian Bishop said during his commentary stint in the IPL 2024 final.
Besides leading the side for the third IPL title, batter Iyer managed 351 runs in this season in 14 innings at an average of 39, and a strike rate of 146.86, with the help of two half-centuries.