Why KKR chose Shreyas Iyer as captain for IPL 2022

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) announced Shreyas Iyer as the captain of the team on February 16, 2022, ahead of the Indian Premier League 2022 (IPL 2022).

Shreyas Iyer was roped in by KKR at a whopping price of Rs 12.25 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auctions. His base price was Rs 2 crore, but since there was a heavy demand among franchises for Iyer, who is an explosive batter, Iyer saw many teams going after him.

? Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, say hello ? to the NEW SKIPPER of the #GalaxyOfKnights অধিনায়ক #ShreyasIyer @ShreyasIyer15 #IPL2022 #KKR #AmiKKR #Cricket pic.twitter.com/veMfzRoPp2

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) February 16, 2022

The bidding which started with Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru suddenly saw KKR jump in the fray. Later, Gujarat Titans also joined in to bid for him but KKR was prepared to give whatever it took to get Iyer. Finally, they got him at Rs 12.25 crore.

Even prior to the auctions, it was said that KKR might go for Shreyas Iyer as they desperately needed a captain and a batter. It was also because it was expected that Eoin Morgan will not be retained by KKR and the team needed a captain.

Once KKR got Iyer on board, it was expected that he would be made the captain. Former KKR skipper Eoin Morgan went unsold at the auctions.

WHY DID KKR GO FOR SHREYAS IYER?

Shreyas Iyer has a glorious record in the IPL. In the 87 matches that he has played in eight editions of the IPL since his debut in 2015, Shreyas has scored 2,375 runs. From 2018-2022, Shreyas has scored 400 runs. His best record was in 2020 when he scored 519 runs in IPL. It was also the year he took the Delhi Capitals to the finals against Mumbai Indians.

As a captain, Shreyas had 21 wins in 41 matches he played. He was the youngest captain in IPL at the age of 23 in 2018 when he replaced Gautam Gambhir in the middle of the tournament. Under his captaincy, Delhi saw a huge turnaround in the team. Shreyas in his opening match smashed 93 runs in 43 balls, winning the man of the match award.

In 2019, Iyer took Delhi Capitals team to the playoffs after seven years. The team won 9 out of 14 matches and finished third on the points table.

Again in 2020, Iyer was retained by the team and this time he led the team to the finals. This was also the first time in IPL history that Delhi had made it to the finals. Though the team lost to Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets, Iyer’s new adrenaline push in the team was highly appreciated. He was a game-changer for a struggling Delhi Capitals team that had been languishing out of the top four before 2018.

THE INJURY SAGA

In the 2021 leg of the IPL, Shreyas Iyer had to stay out of the tournament because of a shoulder injury he sustained in a home series against England. For the first part of the IPL, Iyer had to recuperate after he went for a surgery. Delhi had appointed Rishabh Pant as the captain.

The team fared well under Pant and finished at the top of the table with 20 points in the first part of IPL before the tournament was stopped due to Covid-19. Shreyas Iyer was back in the team when the tournament kicked off in Dubai. But the management kept Pant as the captain as Iyer had just come after an injury plus he had no cricket before him. In 2022, before the auctions, Delhi Capitals released him.

KKR’S DILEMMA WITH MORGAN

Kolkata Knight Riders though didn’t win IPL 2021, they did have a phenomenal season. The team that looked weak and defensive in the first leg of the IPL in India had a dramatic shift in Dubai when the second leg started in September 19, 2021.

The management had Eoin Morgan as the captain replacing Dinesh Karthik. Morgan, who is one of the best T-20 cricketers, had a KKR that was hovering at the seventh position with just two wins in seven matches.

The team in the second leg under Morgan went on to register five wins in seven matches marching to the finals. Even Mahendra Singh Dhoni who led Chennai Super Kings to the final match victory had to appreciate KKR’s performance in the post-match presentation. He said, "The position they were in the first half, it was really difficult to do what they have done. If any team deserved to win this year’s IPL, I think it was KKR.”

Only two words to describe MSD…..#ClassAct ? ⁦@KKRiders⁩ ⁦@ChennaiIPL⁩ pic.twitter.com/9NuNYketyX

— Venky Mysore (@VenkyMysore) October 17, 2021

But KKR's biggest issue with Morgan was his poor form. As a batter, Morgan had a dismal show with the bat, scoring only 129 runs in the tournament at an average of 11.72 and strike rate of 98.47. He couldn’t get a single half-century in the entire tournament. In fact, in his whole IPL career, Morgan had scored 1,405 runs in 83 matches at an average of 22.06.

Being an overseas player, Morgan was neither a bowler nor an attacking batter. After the IPL 2021 season ended, it was widely speculated that KKR would not retain Eoin Morgan. Morgan, whose base price was Rs 2 crore, went unsold on both the days of the auction.

THE TASK AHEAD FOR SHREYAS

Shreyas Iyer joins the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Brendon McCullum, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan. KKR’s head coach Brendon McCullum said that he had followed Iyer’s game and looks forward to working closely with him to achieve goals for KKR.

Well, who knows the twists and turns in leading an IPL team better than McCullum. In 2009, in the second edition of IPL, the explosive New Zealand batter led the side. The team won just 3 matches and had 10 losses, finishing at the bottom of the table.

Out of all the 14 seasons, only Gautam Gambhir led the team to IPL championship in 2012 and 2014. Now, the onus will be on Shreyas Iyer to go for the third title shot. Will he be able to deliver it? We will see this April 2, when the tournament kicks off.