Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum foresees a bright future for Shreyas Iyer as the newly appointed skipper of the franchise.
McCullum’s high-praise remark came after Iyer made a successful start as KKR captain, winning the IPL 2022 opener on March 26 in Mumbai.
The India international led his troops well in the Riders’ comprehensive six-wicket victory, where they restricted CSK to just 131/5 on a good batting surface and later raced to the 132-run target with nearly two overs remaining.
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Speaking to host broadcaster Star Sports after the match, McCullum, himself a former New Zealand skipper, was effusive in praise for Iyer’s promise and ability, calling it his good fortune to get a chance to work with the Indian cricketer.
“I am just delighted to get the opportunity to work with him. Very rarely in your coaching career that you get the chance to work with someone as exciting. I think his best years are in front of him.”
“He could be someone who becomes a world-class player and someone who dominates Indian and world cricket for a long period of time. I think between the two of us, we would like to see the game played in a similar fashion,”
said the head coach.
Iyer entered the KKR fold after they bought him at the 2022 mega auction in Bangalore in February for INR 12.25 crores. Eyeing a new captain after letting go England’s Eoin Morgan, the two-time winners and last year’s runners-up immediately appointed Iyer as their captain.
The 27-year-old boasts of impressive captaincy credentials in the league. He took over the reigns for Delhi Capitals midway through the 2018 season and broke their longstanding playoffs jinx the very next year. In the following season, DC achieved their best result to date under Iyer’s captaincy, reaching the final of the 2020 campaign in Dubai.
The player parted ways with the DC set-up after being replaced by wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant at the helm following his injury ahead of the Indian leg of IPL 2021.
