Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer has revealed that he would want to bat at one down in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.
Iyer had recently batted at number three in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and had delivered the goods for the national team.
Iyer scored 204 runs at a strike rate of 174.36 in three matches for India and remained unbeaten in all three innings. He returned with scores of 57, 74, and 73 against the Island nation. The right-hander was awarded the Player of the Series for his fine performances.
Iyer will now look to lead Kolkata Knight Riders from the front and deliver the goods for the team. The Mumbai batter was roped in for a whopping amount of INR 12.25 Crores in the IPL mega auction and he was soon made the team’s captain as the franchise didn’t retain Eoin Morgan, who had led the team in the previous season.
Iyer stated that the role of a batter keeps changing in the match situation and one has to bat accordingly.
“You can’t basically portray yourself as an anchor. It can differ as well. On a given day, I can be a power-hitter and there can be some other player who can play an anchor role. The situations and roles can change based on conditions, and you can’t basically rely on a certain player to anchor the innings. If it’s your day, you need to go all out and see to it that you win the match for the team,” Iyer said in a video posted on KKR’s YouTube channel.
The right-hander wants the players to take responsibility for their respective roles and play a key role in their team’s success.
“Basically, the responsibility has to be taken by all players in the team – to go out there and win the match and not rely on other players. For me, personally, because I love to bat there and I’ve been batting at that position since very long. I’ve been very flexible; wherever the team wants me to bat at, I’m very comfortable at that and I’m ready to explore,” he added.
Iyer is also impressed with the team’s aggressive approach, which they have adopted since the inception of the IPL. KKR had done well in the previous season as they had qualified for the final but could not cross the final hurdle against CSK.
“They [KKR] have always been aggressive and they’ve been fearless as a team. Right from ball one, they like to throw the punch and put you on the back foot. And obviously, you need to have that kind of a mindset. I go through with the same mindset whenever I go out to bat, and when I want to lead as a captain, I want such kind of intensity from my players as well. If it comes from the coach, it’s greater because the energy is basically provided by the coach and captain,” said the skipper.
“I’m really happy with the mindset and planning that KKR have nourished over the years. Basically, I also have a similar kind of mindset – go out there and express ourselves as much as possible and not to have any regrets when we get off the field. Whatever you do, you do it for the team and you put yourself second – I think that’s the mindset I like to focus on as captain,” he added.
KKR will begin their IPL 2022 campaign against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on 26th March.
