Ahead of the IPL 2022, Kolkata Knight Riders appointed Shreyas Iyer as the new captain

Kolkata Knight Riders have announced Shreyas Iyer as the newly appointed captain of the team. The announcement came ahead of the 15th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is set to commence around the end of March this year.

Shreyas Iyer will take over the leadership duties after the former KKR captain, Eoin Morgan was released by the team after a successful season at IPL 2021 where KKR finished as the runner-up team, playing final against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

KKR has bought Shreyas Iyer for a hefty price of INR 12.25 crore at the recently held IPL mega auction. Ever since his signing by the team, he was speculated to lead the camp.

In the past, Shreyas Iyer has proved his leadership qualities in IPL when he was the captain of the Delhi Capitals team in IPL 2020. He led the team to the finals of the season but lost to Mumbai Indians. It was the most successful season for Delhi Capitals.

On the development, Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR, announced, “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.”

Team head coach, Brendon McCullum has also expressed his excitement on Iyer’s appointment as the captain of the team and has called him one of India’s brightest future leaders.

Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the top teams in the IPL, having won the title twice in 2012 and 2014, under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir.

On accepting the KKR captaincy, 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.”

As far as his IPL stats are concerned, Shreyas Iyer has played 87 matches so far and scored 2375 runs at an impressive average of 31.66. He has bagged 16 half centuries and has a highest score of 96.