New Delhi. If a player who is stripped of his national contract on charges of indiscipline, wins the IPL for his team. That too as a captain. Then what will you say? Yes, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer has done just that. He has written a new story of success leaving behind despair. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer celebrated winning the IPL in the style of Lionel Messi winning the World Cup.
A few weeks before the IPL, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) terminated Shreyas Iyer’s central contract. Apart from this, there was a danger of his career being interrupted due to repeated back injuries. Shreyas has faced many challenges since the beginning of this year. Leaving all these disappointments behind, he ended KKR’s 10-year drought of IPL title in the same way as Messi won the World Cup for Argentina after 36 years. Lionel Messi had to face defeat in the 2014 World Cup final, while Shreyas had to face such a moment in 2020 when Delhi Capitals under his captaincy reached the IPL final.
After lifting the IPL trophy, Shreyas celebrated with his teammates in the same way as Messi did after defeating France in the FIFA World Cup final in Doha. After KKR’s victory in the final, veteran Ian Bishop said, ‘I have been hearing a lot about Gautam Gambhir that he created a great atmosphere in the team. But I don’t think this player is getting enough credit. We should give him credit.’
For KKR, openers Sunil Narine and Phil Salt scored the most runs but whenever they got the chance, other players also raised their level of performance, due to which the team secured the first position in the points table with two matches remaining in the league stage. Shreyas Iyer said, ‘It is difficult to express the feelings at this time. This wait has been very long. We remained undefeated throughout the season. There are many memories to cherish.’
After taking KKR to the finals, Shreyas became the first captain in this league to take two franchises to the finals. He was away from the game last season due to surgery to recover from a back injury, but his return this season was miraculous for the team.
This year did not start well for Shreyas. After scoring 140 runs in the first two matches of the home Test series against England, he was dropped from the team for the last three matches. It was revealed that back pain was troubling him again. However, the BCCI medical team declared him fit. Shreyas got embroiled in controversy when he was accused of joining KKR’s pre-season camp instead of playing Ranji for Mumbai. However, he returned to play the semi-finals and finals for Mumbai. In the final, he laid the foundation for the team’s victory by scoring 95 runs in the second innings against Vidarbha. His contribution made Mumbai the Ranji champion for the 42nd time. During this time, the BCCI dropped Shreyas Iyer from the Grade B contract and the board issued a warning asking the players not to give priority to IPL over domestic cricket.
Shreyas had a bad start to the IPL. He was out on zero off two balls in the team’s opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He played some important innings after that but all his efforts faded in front of the explosive batting of Narayan and Salt. Shreyas was the fourth most successful batsman of the team with 351 runs. Shreyas built an image of a ‘cool captain’ throughout the season and gave priority to the team’s success over his own performance. While chasing the target of 160 runs in the qualifier match against Sunrisers, he played an unbeaten aggressive innings of 58 runs and gave the team an easy victory.
Praveen Amre said, ‘The way he handled the team as a player is commendable. He is constantly improving as a captain. I believe that success does not come by chance. He has worked hard for it. He has handled the team. Yes, he had a good team but you should know how to get the best performance from all the players.’ (input language)
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FIRST PUBLISHED : May 27, 2024, 21:16 IST