IPL 2022: 3 ways KKR will benefit with Shreyas Iyer as their skipper

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday appointed middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer their captain for IPL 2022. The right-handed batter, who was signed by the franchise for ₹12.25 crore at the recent mega auction, will replace Eoin Morgan at the helm.

Iyer has featured in 87 IPL matches so far, scoring 2375 runs at an average of 31.67, striking at 123.96. He has a good captaincy resume as well, having led the Delhi Capitals in 41 matches, winning 23 of those.

KKR had multiple options to choose from for the captaincy, including Morgan who led them to a runners-up finish last season, Pat Cummins who's coming off being at the helm of Australia's 4-0 Ashes win and a left-field candidate like Venkatesh Iyer.

Below, we discuss three reasons why choosing Shreyas Iyer could be the right call.

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#1 Batting mettle

Had the KKR management sat down to discuss captaincy candidates ahead of the IPL 2022 auction, they might have thought, "win ratio and brand value can all come later, first and foremost, we need someone who can bat".

KKR have been hit with massive criticism for the poor showings of their last two leaders - Dinesh Karthik and Morgan. Both established international stars, the latter even a World Cup-winning leader, were questioned for their place in the side because they weren't able to score the amount of runs expected from them.

Both Karthik and Morgan batted lower down the order, got limited and difficult opportunities, and occasionally struggled for runs which led to calls of them being replaced with obvious younger replacements available with the team.

Putting Shreyas Iyer at the helm solves this issue. The 27-year-old bats at No.3 or 4 and averages over 30 in the last five IPL seasons. He is also fast establishing himself in those spots in the national side in all three formats. While his strike rate might be an issue, he will likely take on the anchor role in the team.

All things considered, there's a high chance that Iyer will hit his peak form in the coming five years and KKR could be on the right side of it. In that case, even if he struggles to adjust as the captain with the new franchise initially, the stakeholders will likely be more patient with him than they were with his predecessors.

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#2 Proven captaincy pedigree

Apart from being a brilliant batter, Shreyas Iyer has already shown his pedigree as a top-drawer leader. He took over Delhi Capitals in 2018 as a 23-year-old when the franchise was down in the dumps. In 2019, he led them to their first Qualifiers in over seven years. The following year, he took them to their first-ever final in IPL history.

The Mumbai-born neither comes about as too tactical nor too emotional as the captain, but like someone who follows the process, handles the pressure well, leads from the front and makes the most out of the cards he's dealt.

It also needs to be said that being at the helm of a powerhouse like KKR might be a lot tougher than leading a fledgling DC without much pressure or expectations.

Taking forward the legacy of Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum could never be an easy task and this stint could be the true test of his character. But if he's up for it, KKR have unearthed themselves a real gem.

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#3 Shreyas Iyer could be the long-term face of KKR

Both Karthik and Morgan always seemed like stop-gap captains propelling the team with their experience while helping groom youngsters like Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana to be the actual faces of the franchise in the future.

If Shreyas Iyer does well, KKR will no longer have to wait to prepare someone to epitomize the franchise's values. At 27, the right-hander is at a stage in his career where he can find the right balance between stamping his authority on the team and learning from the job as he goes.

Moreover, taking Morgan's case as an example again, an overseas captain who also suffers gets criticized more than an Indian face going from an equally bad run of form for the overseas slots are limited to just 4. KKR would have certainly considered the same when choosing between Shreyas Iyer and Pat Cummins.

If everything falls into place, Iyer could be to KKR what Rohit Sharma is to Mumbai Indians, Virat Kohli is to Royal Challengers Bangalore and MS Dhoni is to Chennai Super Kings. He can either take them to newer heights as captain or at least retire as an all-time batting great.