“Let’s not forget this game is played on the ground” – Aakash Chopra lauds Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy in KKR’s IPL 2024 win

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has hailed Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy after Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL final by eight wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. 

Iyer led from the front and played a key role in the team’s success throughout the season. The right-hander was able to get the best out of his players and deserves a lot of credit for taking the team over the line.

While the support staff of head coach Chandrakant Pandit, mentor Gautam Gambhir, assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, bowling coach Bharat Arun, and fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate deserves a lot of credit, Chopra reminded one and all the game is played on the ground when the skipper has to go with his intuitive decisions.

Iyer was spot-on with his field placements and bowling changes throughout the season. Moreover, he scored 351 runs in 14 innings at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 146.86 in IPL 2024.

“There is a list of captains who have taken two teams to the final. Only one – that is Shreyas Iyer. He played a final with Delhi and made Kolkata reach the final and won them the trophy. He wasn’t there last year and his absence was felt but now he was there,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“We praise Guru Gautam a lot, which should be done as well because he was the enabler, there is no doubt about that, but let’s not forget this game is played on the ground and the captain has a massive role in that. You have to take decisions instinctively and collectively keep the team together and Shreyas Iyer showed that by doing it,” the former India opener added.

On the other hand, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh hailed Shreyas Iyer for backing Mitchell Starc, who was expensive in the league stage but delivered in the playoffs. Starc returned with impressive figures of 2-14 in the all-important final against SRH.

“A good captain is one who extracts the best from every player in his team, and there is not even one player who hasn’t given his best. Starc was conceding 50 runs in every match at the start but he didn’t write him off. He played him continuously because he knew such players would shine on the big stage,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports.

The Turbanator hailed Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine for performing consistently throughout the season.

“We didn’t even get to see Rinku Singh this year but you need to praise Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine, who changed the definition of batting at the top. His batting was incredible. The credit goes to each and every member of the team. Shreyas Iyer is a good captain but extracting the best from the team is a sign of a good leader. So credit to him as well,” the former India spinner added.

Iyer will look to keep up the good show in the upcoming tournaments.