Shreyas Iyer, the new captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, on Saturday said that he loves to bat at No 3 but is flexible and happy to bat wherever his team needs him in the upcoming season of the IPL 2022.
The 27-year old Iyer was bought by KKR for Rs 12.25 cr in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction and was eventually named to lead the side. He himself plays at No 5 for India and although he would love to bat at his preferred position of No 3. But, with Nitish Rana in the mix, Shreyas may have to push himself further in the line-up, which he is open to do.
“Personally, I love to bat at No.3 and feel it’s the place for me since I’ve been batting at that position for a very long time. Otherwise, I’m flexible and happy to bat wherever my team needs me. I’m comfortable with that and come what may I’m ready to explore,” said Shreyas to kkr.in.
See you soon, Mumbai! #TATAIPL #IPL2022 #KKR #AmiKKR pic.twitter.com/JRk92zB9Yc
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 6, 2022
Shreyas also urged his players to be flexible and take up responsibilities according to situations.
“You can’t basically portray yourself as an anchor. It can differ. On a given day, I can be the power hitter and on another, play an anchor role. The roles can change according to situations. You can’t rely on one particular player to anchor the innings. If it’s your day, you need to go all out and see to it that you win for the team. Basically, the responsibility has to be taken by all the players in the team,” he said.
The stylish batter, who last represented Delhi Capitals, in the IPL also mentioned that his batting style matches KKR’s aggressive and fearless brand of cricket.
“From outside when I’ve played against KKR, they’ve been aggressive and fearless as a team. Right from ball one, they like to throw the punch and put you on the back foot. You need to have that mindset and I as a batsman too have that same mindset,” he said.
“When I lead as a captain, I want the same kind of intensity in my players as well. I want us to go out there, express ourselves as much as possible, not have many regrets when we get out there and whatever you do you do it for the team and put yourself second. That’s the mindset I like to focus on as a captain,” he added.
The two champions KKR had an attacking opening pair last year with Shubman Gill having partnered with Venkatesh Iyer. It was a move that paid dividends with Venkatesh notching 370 runs in 10 matches at 41.11. However, with Alex Hales pulling out this year, Venkatesh is likely to retain his spot at the top despite his role being very different for India where he bats in the lower-middle order.
“His batting position, we haven’t decided on yet. I need to get out of quarantine and have a chat with coaches and the management regarding that. But apart from that, when I had these chats with Venky while playing for India, he’s very flexible in whatever position we put him to play and obviously he’s done great for KKR in the opening slot, so that will be at the back of the mind,” said Shreyas.
“He’s a team man, I’ve seen that on the field. Whenever I’ve asked him about how we’ll do as a team, he’s always positive and talks about winning. He’s ready to go out there and show that relentlessness throughout,” he added.
KKR will take on Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2022 opener on March 26 at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
KKR squad for IPL 2022: Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith, Ashok Sharma, Pratham Singh, Abhijeet Tomar, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammed Nabi, Aman Khan, Umesh Yadav
