IPL 2022 | Shreyas Iyer reveals he would prefer to bat at No 3 for his new franchise

India batter and Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer is currently enjoying a dream run in International cricket. He was awarded player of the series in the T20I’s against Sri Lanka where scored fifties in all three games without getting dismissed even once. 

The Knight Riders bought Iyer for a whopping INR 12.25 crore in the IPL 2022 auction before handpicking him as the captain of the two-time franchise. The former Delhi Capitals skipper is looking forward to leading his new franchise and spoke about his views on the brand of cricket KKR plays. 

“They [KKR] have always been aggressive and they’ve been fearless as a team. They like to throw the punch right from ball one and put you on the back foot. And obviously, you need to have that kind of mindset. I go through with the same mindset whenever I go out to bat, and when I want to lead as a captain,” Iyer told KKR.in. 

It is noteworthy that Iyer’s brilliant performance’s in the Sri Lanka series came at the number 3 spot and it was no surprise when he was asked which position he would prefer batting for the Knight Riders. 

The right-handed batter accepted that he would love to bat at No.3 but he was open to performing whatever role the team requires. 

“You can’t basically portray yourself as an anchor. It can differ as well. On a given day, I can be a power-hitter and there can be some other player who can play an anchor role. The situations and roles can change based on conditions, and you can’t basically rely on a certain player to anchor the innings,” said Iyer talking about his batting position. 

Another big question posed to the KKR captain was the position of the Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. The all-rounder had a brilliant season last time around opening the batting for KKR, helping them reach the final. 

However, post his performances in the IPL, he was picked in the Indian team as a backup for Hardik Pandya. The young all-rounder did well in that role as well as he scored some crucial runs in the series against West Indies. 

The KKR skipper said that the batting position of the all-rounder had not been decided yet. 

“The batting position that he [Venkatesh] will be batting at – we haven’t definitely decided about it,” said Shreyas. 

“I had a brief chat with Venky when we were donning the Indian jersey – he’s very flexible in terms of whatever position we put him to play.”

Shreyas Iyer was also happy that he would have a lot of senior players - i.e. Pat Cummins, Ajinkya Rahane and Aaron Finch - with him who he can learn from. 

“It is a great honour to have them alongside me because they’ve achieved so many things playing for their own countries, and also they’ve been playing all three formats for the last few years,” said the KKR captain. 

“Definitely, if I get to a point where I think that this is a right time to take some advice from the senior-most player in the team… it’s not only on the field but off the field as well. All these aspects play a vital role, and they can play an immense part in that.”