IPL 2022: Shoaib Akhtar praises Shreya Iyers' leadership in KKR

Shoaib Akhtar applauds Shreya Iyer’s captaincy in the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League. The former Pakistan pacer praises the new Kolkata Knight Riders captain for leading the team to its second victory over three games.

"Iyer is not putting pressure on the IPL with his captaincy, he is making a serious case for Team India's captaincy as well. He wants to cement his place in the Indian team and lead it as well. He is proving his worth,” Akhtar said on SK Match Ki Baat.

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"He should continue to score runs and lead the team well, and I believe he will become a big brand in the near future. Rahane has to deliver. KKR should not give up on Rahane so soon. Hopefully, he will perform."

Iyer was the skipper of the Delhi Capitals in the 2019 and 2020 seasons but was forced to not play in 2021 due to injury. KKR bought him for IPL this year for INR 12.25 crore last February during the mega auction.

New-Ball Pair

Akhtar also commented on the new bowler pair Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee. He also praised them saying their performance will bother the batters.

"Umesh Yadav is a skiddy bowler. He and Tim Southee tend to deceive batters in the air or get you to play shots. These two will trouble the batters a lot. It is a very good attack. Yadav's pave, fitness, and action are all good," Akhtar praised.

"He should have been given the new ball from the start, it has been 10 years now, and unfortunately, it did not happen before. He is a rare talent and will be the star of the tournament," he ended.

KKR Second Win

The match between KKR and Mumbai Indians is the 14th game out of 70 in the IPL 2022 season. It was held at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on April 6, 2022.

KKR won the coin toss and decided to bowl in the first innings. MI bat first and were able to score 161 runs off 20 overs. Suryakumar Yadav leads the team in scoring the most for the match with 52 runs off 36 balls. Tilak Varma scored the second highest with 38 runs off 27 balls. And Dewald Brevis scored third highest at 29 runs off 19 balls.

KKR took the pitch in the second innings and was able to chase MI at only 16 overs with 162 runs, 5 wickets to spare and 24 balls left. This is KKR’s second win out of three games on this season’s IPL.

Pat Cummins stole the whole game by scoring 56 runs in only 15 balls. The second top scorer Venkatesh Iyer scores close to Cummins with 50 runs but it was in a span of 41 balls. The third highest scorer is Sam Billings who scored far below the top two at 17 runs off 12 balls.