Kolkata Knight Riders land Shreyas Iyer for ₹12.25 crore

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped in Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer for a staggering ₹12.25 crore at the IPL 2022 Auction, making him the biggest signing of the first phase of the event. He joins Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy at the two-time IPL champions.

The 27-year-old had listed himself with the maximum base price of ₹2 crore. Interestingly, his erstwhile team, Delhi Capitals (DC), who didn't retain him due to his captaincy ambitions, were among the first to bid.

The initial bidding war was between DC and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) chipping in with a few bids too. KKR joined in after the bid had crossed the ₹6 crore-mark and staved off more advances from DC and Gujarat Titans to get their man.

Shreyas Iyer was always going to be an expensive signing. Apart from being a rare established Indian middle-order batter, he has brilliant captaincy credentials, having led DC to their first IPL final in 2020.

He has played 87 IPL matches so far, scoring over 2300 runs at an average of 31.67 and a strike rate of 123.96.

Iyer also brings with him superb brand value as he's on the path of cementing his place in the Indian white-ball teams and is likely to have a big future with the national side.

Will Shreyas Iyer be the KKR captain?

KKR finished runners-up in the last IPL season. Still, their biggest issue was former skipper Eoin Morgan's form. The Englishman fared poorly with the bat and being an overseas leader, came under immense scrutiny for his position in the team.

By signing Iyer for such a high price, KKR has given a clear indication that he'll be their skipper for the 2022 season and beyond.