Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in a rain-affected IPL 2024 fixture at the Eden Gardens on Saturday and completed a season double double over the five-time champions. KKR thus became the first side to officially qualify for the playoffs.
It was a game where several KKR players chipped in and it’s something that their captain Shreyas Iyer is proud of. He appreciated his players for not backing away and taking responsibility which led to several game-changing moments.
“I think I manifested this before the game,” Iyer said of KKR qualifying for the playoffs. “Nerves were there, boys were raising their hands and there have been many game-changers and kudos to each and every one of them.”
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Despite the toss not falling in favour of the home side, Iyer had the belief that they would walk away with the win and highlighted the importance of playing quality cricket which then enabled them to bounce back.
“I feel whichever team plays the best, they have a great chance to win. They were going at great guns in the first 6 overs, and to bounce back from that situation it was nice to see,” Iyer said.
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MI have had a stellar record at the Eden Gardens but Iyer was not keeping these records in mind and focused on the importance of taking the win.
“I wasn’t thinking about stats or records, the weather wasn’t great but we won the game and that’s what is more important,” Iyer said.
A big call which the captain had to make was which of the two – Sunil Narine or Varun Chakaravarthy – gets to bowl a fourth over with both in good form.
Backing his instincts, Iyer went with Chakaravarthy who responded with the wicket of the MI skipper Hardik Pandya.
“It’s all about understanding which bowler is doing well on that particular day, I feel both of them bowled well and my gut went with Varun at that point and I backed him,” Iyer explained.
