Truly, Shreyas Iyer’s greatest achievement as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders was when he hoisted aloft the IPL Trophy on Sunday at Chennai, which brought back memories of Lionel Messi’s iconic FIFA World Cup celebration.
For Iyer, it was his personal triumph much like Argentina’s victory in a way given what he had to go through.
The path to success for Iyer started with numerous difficulties including central contract termination by BCCI weeks before the IPL began.
Furthermore, a nagging back injury threatened his progress. Nevertheless, Shreyas Iyer’s fought against these odds and led his team to an extraordinary accomplishment.
Like Messi who got over losing the 2014 final and won a trophy for his country after waiting for 36 years; this victory gave him deep satisfaction and vindication at last.
But that wait took ten years from its start when Iyer belted out a redemption song after experiencing some sort of topsy-turvy beginning in 2022. It is no wonder then why he chose to emulate someone who has mastered coming back from disappointments.
So, holding onto the trophy with both hands, just like Messi did after the France showdown in Doha, lighthearted strolls towards other members of KKR were taken by Iyer himself only to surrender it victoriously to them later.
“There is a lot being said about Gautam Gambhir who has created such a great culture within this KKR squad. He doesn’t get enough credit (this guy Iyer) Shreyas Iyer deserves some,” observed Ian Bishop as KKR beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in an extremely one-sided encounter to win their third IPL title last night.
Although openers Sunil Narine and Phil Salt made most runs for KKR, they played collectively as a unit and emerged victorious during an emphatic campaign that saw them top the table for two rounds before closing down with just three losses in between.
“I can’t describe how we are feeling at the moment. The wait was too long. We were invincibles all through the season. This moment is a special one,” Iyer said.
This was a great moment for Pravin Amre, Shreyas Iyer’s childhood and Mumbai coach who had once tested his mettle by bumping him up from No.7 to number 3 during his maiden Ranji Trophy season 2014-15.
At Eden Gardens, Iyer plundered Bengal in their match against them by returning with 153 on December of 2014, which also happened to be his first ever first-class century.
“In his entire career (in Mumbai)…I challenged him…I knew he’s very strong-willed and as coach my job was to challenge him…He always wanted challenges. He is a good team man.” Amre added “He scored 530 runs in the last world cup,” Amre said.
“I told him that you simply do whatever is there within your hands, let others do their job, you remain focus on what’s there within your hands,” noted Amre who had brought him under his wings at Shivaji Park Gymkhana for the first time.
By leading KKR into final, Iyer achieved the rare of feat of playing the summit clash as captain of two different franchises in IPL. The KKR skipper missed the last season because of a back injury that required a surgery in London last year.
After tumbling in the Asian Cup, he became the third highest run-scorer for India in the previous year’s World Cup ODIs behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Nonetheless, this year began on a low note for him as he had not done well at home during the test match series against England and scored only 140 runs from two games before being dropped ahead of the final three Tests.
This was learned when it turned out that although he passed through medical staff appointed by BCCI, Iyer had this problem in his back at intervals. He was then caught up in an ugly row over missing Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai and attending KKR’s pre-season camp.
However he returned to play for Mumbai in their semi-final and final ties with Vidarbha wherein he hit an unbeaten 95 innings- their 42nd Ranji victory.
The Board left him out from their Grade B contract while BCCI secretary Jay Shah gave a stern warning to players about prioritizing IPL over domestic cricket.
Under close examination, Shreyas Iyer’s seemed rusty during the first game of IPL where he got out without scoring anything off just two balls faced against SRH.
He made some important contributions later but Narine and Salt’s explosive batting overshadowed all his efforts.
Captain Cool
Nevertheless, Iyer personified “Captain Cool” keeping team goals ahead of his own individual milestones. He ended up being KKR’s fourth highest run-getter this season with 351 runs including two half-centuries to his credit.
His best came against the crucial first qualifier against SRH when he anchored their tricky chase of 160 with an unbeaten 58.
As a player, how Dawan handled himself throughout has been very good; even now experts are commending him as someone who is improving as a captain,” Amre said.
“For me personally I know success is not by accident because he has worked hard for this, he managed the team. Yes he had a good team under him but bringing out the best is important,” he concluded.
