IPL 2022 : Shreyas Iyer Selected as a brand-new Captain Of Kolkata Knight Riders

Shreyas Iyer was on Wednesday appointed captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), ahead of the IPL 2022 season. KKR bought Shreyas for Rs 12.25 crore in the recently held IPL mega auction in Bengaluru. Shreyas has in the past captained the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise and led the team to its maiden IPL final in the 2020 season. An injury forced him to sit out of the initial phase of the 2021 season, which saw Rishabh Pant standing-in as captain of DC. Shreyas returned for the UAE leg of the season but DC decided to retain Pant as captain. Shreyas was thereafter not retained by the franchise, which led him to being picked by KKR in the auction. Shreyas takes over from Eoin Morgan, under whose captaincy KKR had reached the final of IPL 2021.

Making the announcement, Venky Mysore, CEO & MD of KKR said, “We are delighted firstly to have been able to successfully bid for Shreyas in the IPL auction & to have the opportunity for him to lead #TeamKKR. He has impressed one & all as a quality batsman at the highest level & we are confident that he will excel as a leader of #TeamKKR.”

This will be a fresh start for the two-time IPL champions and head coach Brendon McCullum said that he is looking forward to work closely with Shreyas.

“I am very excited to have one of India’s brightest future leaders in Shreyas Iyer, take the reins at KKR. I’ve enjoyed Shreyas’ game and his captaincy skills from afar and now will look forward to working closely with him to drive forward the success and style of play we want at KKR,” McCullum said.

Accepting captaincy of KKR, Shreyas Iyer said – “ I am extremely honoured to have gotten the opportunity to lead a prestigious team like KKR. The IPL as a tournament brings the best players from different countries and cultures together and I look forward to leading this great group of very talented individuals. I would like to thank the owners, management and support staff of KKR for giving me the opportunity to lead this team and I am confident that we will find the right synergies to achieve the team’s goals. Kolkata and The Eden Gardens have a very rich history when it comes to Indian cricket and I look forward to contributing to this rich history and making our fans proud of us as a team! Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo!”

KKR won the IPL twice, in 2012 and 2014, under the captaincy of former India batter Gautam Gambhir.

Head Coach Brendon McCullum said – “I am very excited to have one of India’s brightest future leaders in Shreyas Iyer, take the reins at KKR. I’ve enjoyed Shreyas’ game and his captaincy skills from afar and now will look forward to working closely with him to drive forward the success and style of play we want at KKR”

Iyer said,  “I am extremely honoured to have gotten the opportunity to lead a prestigious team like KKR. The IPL as a tournament brings the best players from different countries and cultures together and I look forward to leading this great group of very talented individuals. I would like to thank the owners, management and support staff of KKR for giving me the opportunity to lead this team and I am confident that we will find the right synergies to achieve the team’s goals.

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Shreyas Iyer : Early years in Indian Premier League

In February 2015, Iyer was signed in the 2015 IPL players auction by the Delhi Daredevils for 2.6 crores (approximately $430,000). Thus Iyer became the highest-earning uncapped player in the tournament. He scored 439 runs in 14 matches, with a 33.76 average and a strike rate of 128.36, making Iyer the 9th most consistent player and Emerging Player of 2015 IPL.

Iyer was retained by Delhi Daredevils in the 2018 IPL Auction. On 25 April 2018, he was announced as the new captain of Delhi Daredevils replacing Gautam Gambhir. On 27 April 2018, he became the youngest captain to lead the Delhi Daredevils team in the IPL history at the age of 23 years and 142 days during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders and was also the fourth overall youngest to captain any IPL side. On his IPL captaincy debut, Shreyas Iyer smashed an unbeaten match-winning knock of 93 off 40 deliveries with 10 sixes, which was his third successive IPL fifty of the season to power DD to a heavy total of 219/5 in the first innings of the match before earning him the man of the match award. Under his captaincy, Delhi Daredevils managed to defeat KKR by 55 runs to secure only their second win of the tournament. Iyer was retained by the Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2019 Season which he led the team into the playoffs for the first time after seven years.

In the 2020 season, he continued as the captain for Delhi Capitals and he also led them to their maiden IPL final against the Mumbai Indians. Iyer scored an unbeaten 65 off 50 balls in a losing effort as Mumbai Indians won the final.

He missed the half season of IPL 2021 due to an injury in his Left Shoulder while playing for India in the first match of an ODI series against England in the same year.

He made his comeback after a Span of 6 months for Delhi Capitals.