Shreyas Iyer is calm, composed and never panics: AB de Villiers lauds KKR skipper
IPL 2024: AB de Villiers praised Shreyas Iyer for his captaincy after KKR made their way through to the playoffs. The Knight Riders will play their last league match against Rajasthan.
In Short
- Shreyas Iyer is currently leading in KKR in IPL 2024
- Shreyas has helped KKR finish on top of the points table
- KKR became the first team to qualify for the playoffs
Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers lauded Shreyas Iyer for KKR’s incredible journey in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The Knight Riders became the first team to qualify for the playoffs and are placed atop the table with 19 points and a net run rate of +1.428 thanks to wins in 9 out of 13 matches.
Back in 2022, the 29-year-old Shreyas replaced Eoin Morgan as the skipper of the 2-time champions. He missed the 2023 edition due to a back injury when Nitish Rana led them. This season, Shreyas made his comeback and stamped his authority.
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De Villiers, who retired from all forms of cricket after IPL 2021, lauded Shreyas for not staying calm and not pressing the panic button under pressure.
“Shreyas Iyer has been absolutely incredible. There have been a lot of doubts and talks about him as captain. I punted him from the start of the tournament. He is a wise guy, a smart cricketer and I love the way he is calm and composed as a captain. He never seems to get rushed, never seems to panic even though you know deep down that you feel some panic, especially playing at the Eden Gardens,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
‘Not easy to captain senior players’
De Villiers said that captaining experienced cricketers is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. He said that Shreyas has led the likes of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell with a lot of precision.
“It’s not easy to captain senior players who have been around for ages, especially Narine and Russell. We know that the West Indies have got different personalities, they are outgoing and can be outspoken sometimes. It must be sometimes difficult with a difference in culture to communicate properly with some of these experienced players,” De Villiers added.
Having already booked their berth for the Qualifier, KKR may look to test their bench strength when they face Rajasthan on Sunday, May 19 at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.