Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer has so far scored 336 runs in 12 games in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season and he is one of the lynchpins of the side's batting lineup. Shreyas' best knock this season came against Rajasthan Royals as he scored 85. KKR are currently in the seventh position in the points table and they need to win their remaining two matches to have any chance of making it to the playoffs. Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that Iyer can now bat freely as the middle order batters have finally started making contributions.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, "Shreyas Iyer is a premier player for KKR, he's been a premier player for whichever franchise he's played for. It's good to see that Shreyas doesn't have to share all the burden in the batting department. The recent exploits of Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh will give him the confidence to bat freely and play those big shots early in the innings."
Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh have finally started contributing with the bat in the middle order for KKR. Opening batter Venkatesh Iyer was also back amongst runs in the previous game against Mumbai Indians.
Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif while praising Iyer said that the talented Mumbai batter knows how to deal with the pressure and he can take KKR in the right direction.
"Shreyas Iyer is a class batsman. He loves to play under pressure and knows how to score runs consistently. He likes playing long and impactful innings. He is a brilliant captain and can put KKR in the right direction with his batting," said Kaif.
Kaif, however, also expressed his concern over Iyer's struggles against leg-spinners and claimed it is one area where the right-handed batter needs to work on.
"Shreyas has one weakness though. He doesn't play leg spinners well and tends to get deceived by the turn and flight from the leggies. It is surprising to see an Indian batter struggle consistently against leg-spin. He's been dismissed by leg-spinners quite a few times in this season too," said Kaif.
"Be it Ravi Bishnoi or Rahul Chahar or Kuldeep Yadav, everyone has troubled him but he never looks to see their overs through. Instead, he continues to play those attacking shots and gets dismissed. I think there is a lot of improvement required in this department. But at the same time, there are several qualities about Shreyas which make him a special batter," he further added.
KKR will next take on SunRisers Hyderabad in the ongoing season on Saturday evening.