With middle-order clicking for KKR, captain Shreyas Iyer can bat freely now: Gavaskar

Mumbai: Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar reckons Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Shreyas Iyer can now bat freely as the middle order batters have started making contributions in TATA IPL 2022. 

In the most exciting IPL season, the Indian core of KKR’s batting line-up looks to have finally found the form as Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh are contributing with the bat in the middle order. Even opener Venkatesh Iyer was back amongst runs the previous game against Mumbai Indians. Gavaskar believes it will bode well for captain Iyer and he can now look to bat with freedom. 

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “Shreyas Iyer is a premier player for KKR, he’s been a premier player for whichever franchise he’s played for. It’s good to see that Shreyas doesn’t have to share all the burden in the batting department. The recent exploits of Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh will give him the confidence to bat freely and play those big shots early in the innings.” 

Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif while praising Iyer said the talented Mumbai batter knows how to deal with the pressure and he can take KKR in the right direction. 

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Kaif said, “Shreyas Iyer is a class batsman. He loves to play under pressure and knows how to score runs consistently. He likes playing long and impactful innings. He is a brilliant captain and can put KKR in the right direction with his batting.” 

Kaif, however, also expressed his concern over Iyer’s struggle against leg-spinners and claimed it is one area where the right-handed batter needs to work on. 

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Kaif said, “Shreyas has one weakness though. He doesn’t play leg spinners well and tends to get deceived by the turn and flight from the leggies. It is surprising to see an Indian batter struggle consistently against leg-spin. He’s been dismissed by leg-spinners quite a few times in this season too. Be it Ravi Bishnoi or Rahul Chahar or Kuldeep Yadav, everyone has troubled him but he never looks to see their overs through. Instead, he continues to play those attacking shots and gets dismissed. I think there is a lot of improvement required in this department. But at the same time, there are several qualities about Shreyas which make him a special batter.”