IPL 2022: KKR Captain Shreyas Iyer puts his hand up to fix batting order conundrum, says “ready to bat wherever needed”

𝐂𝐚𝐩tain 💜@ShreyasIyer15 #KKR #KKRHaiTaiyaar #GalaxyOfKnights #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/a7VGm3CqLG

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 19, 2022

Kolkata Knight Riders reached the finals last year under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan, where they lost to Chennai Super Kings by 28 runs, to finish as runner-up. One of the major highlight for the team last year was the performance of Venkatesh Iyer, who opened the innings along with Shubman Gill and smashed 370 runs in 10 matches at an average of 41.11.

The team retained Venkatesh ahead of the auction this year but left out Gill. With Venkatesh having played a different role lower down the order for India in the limted overs games, it remains to be seen whether he will find his place as the opener in the side for this season.

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“His batting position, we haven’t decided on yet. I need to get out of quarantine and have a chat with coaches and the management regarding that,” said Shreyas, speaking to KKR.IN. “But apart from that, when I had these chats with Venky while playing for India, he’s very flexible in whatever position we put him to play and obviously he’s done great for KKR in the opening slot, so that will be at the back of the mind,” the skipper added.

Another thing that the team needs to finalise is the batting spot of the captain himself. Shreyas has batted at No.3 for Delhi Capitals in the past, but he is playing the role of a middle-order batsman for India. With KKR also haveing players like Nitish Rana and Ajinkya Rahane this year. it remains to be seen where Shreyas opts to bat.

“You can’t basically portray yourself as an anchor. It can differ. On a given day, I can be the power hitter and on another, play an anchor role. The roles can change according to situations.”

“Personally, I love to bat at No.3 and feel it’s the place for me since I’ve been batting at that position for very long. Otherwise, I’m flexible and happy to bat wherever my team needs me. I’m comfortable with that and come what may I’m ready to explore,” said Shreyas Iyer.

KKR will kickstart their season by facing Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 26th March, Saturday.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR) Captain – Shreyas Iyer

Full Squad: Andre Russell (12 Cr) / Varun Chakravarthy (8 Cr) / Venkatesh Iyer (8 Cr) / Sunil Narine (6) / Pat Cummins (7.25 Cr) / Shreyas Iyer (12.25 Cr) / Nitish Rana (8 Cr) / Shivam Mavi (7.25 Cr) / Sheldon Jackson (0.60 Cr) / Ajinkya Rahane (1 Cr) / Rinku Singh (0.55 Cr) / Anukul Roy (0.2 Cr) / Pratham Singh (0.2 Cr) / Abhijeet Tomar (0.4 Cr) / Rasikh Salam (0.2 Cr) / Baba Indrajith (0.2 Cr) / Chamika Karunaratne (0.5 Cr) / Ashok Sharma (0.55 Cr) / Sam Billings (2.0 Cr) / Alex Hales (1.5 CR) / Aaron Finch (Alex Hales Replacement) / Tim Southee (1.5 Cr) / Ramesh Kumar (0.2 Cr) / Mohammed Nabi (1.0 Cr) / Umesh Yadav (2.0 Cr).

IPL 2022: KKR Captain Shreyas Iyer puts his hand up to fix batting order conundrum, says “ready to bat wherever needed”