"The entire team's backbone will become weak" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's issues due to Shreyas Iyer's potential unavailability in IPL 2023

Aakash Chopra believes the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be considerably weakened if Shreyas Iyer is unavailable for the entirety of IPL 2023.

Shreyas will be out of action for the initial part of IPL 2023 and could miss the entire season as well. The Kolkata-based franchise has therefore named Nitish Rana as their captain in their regular skipper's absence.

On the "AakashVani" show on JioCinema, Chopra pointed out that Shreyas' potential absence could be the biggest issue for the Kolkata Knight Riders, elaborating:

"What about Shreyas Iyer's fitness? It is a question that is looming large because he is this team's captain and their life. He has back spasms at the moment. If he has some back issues, the entire team's backbone will become weak."

The former KKR player feels Shreyas Iyer will be sorely missed as a batter as well, explaining:

"The expectations are, fingers and toes crossed, that the guy becomes fit and available because does a team work without the captain? They have Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh and Mandeep Singh as pure batter options. That's why Shreyas Iyer is extremely important not just as a captain but also as a batter."

Shreyas was KKR's highest run-getter in IPL 2022. The Mumbaikar amassed 401 runs in 14 games at an acceptable average of 30.84 and a decent strike rate of 134.56.

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"I don't count Shardul Thakur as an all-rounder in this tournament" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's all-rounder issues

The Kolkata Knight Riders acquired Shardul Thakur from the Delhi Capitals. [P/C: iplt20.com]

While acknowledging that KKR have a plethora of all-rounders, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Shardul Thakur cannot be relied upon as a batter at this level, saying:

"They have Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Shakib Al Hasan and David Wiese as all-rounders. There is no doubt that all the names are good. I don't count Shardul Thakur as an all-rounder in this tournament. I feel he is a proper bowler who might bat a little at times."

The former Indian opener picked Andre Russell's indifferent recent form as another issue for KKR, observing:

"Andre Russell, who was the life and pride of this team, which is still the case, is not performing that well. If you see his last 12 months in various leagues across the globe, he hasn't really set the world on fire. He is not hitting regularly."

Chopra concluded by pointing out that although Shakib Al Hasan is a good player, his T20 numbers are not great. He added that the all-rounder might have done very well in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) but the IPL is a different ball game, with his bowling also unlikely to work on the Eden Gardens surface.