Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have a title to defend this season. But before they can begin their campaign, they need a new captain. Shreyas Iyer, who guided the side to victory last year, has been released by the franchise. However, another Iyer has entered the picture. Venkatesh Iyer was KKR’s biggest buy this year. The franchise spent a whopping INR 23.75 crore for the fast-bowling all-rounder, who has a total of only eleven international caps to his name. Naturally, he is among the leading candidates to captain the Kolkata-based team this season.
While Iyer has no captaincy experience at either international or domestic levels, he believes leading a side does not require any captaincy tag. Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo about the possibility of leading KKR, he said,
“Definitely. Definitely, I’m ready,” Iyer said. “Again, I’ve always said this: captaincy is just a tag. I believe in leadership. That is a bigger role to play, being a leader.”
Iyer, 30, represents Madhya Pradesh (MP) in India’s domestic competitions. Although he isn’t the captain of the side, the leader in him is least bothered by the absence of any title. He enjoys the role of the side’s de facto leader, which makes him a good fit for captaining KKR.
“You don’t necessarily need the tag of a captain to be a leader in your dressing room. You need to set examples. You need to be a good role model, both on and off the field, which I am doing right now in MP. I’m not the captain of the MP team, but my opinions are respected and I really love to be in an atmosphere where every individual – again, new or experienced, 20 lakhs, 20 crore, whatever – you just need to have the freedom to voice your opinion. Or you just need to have the freedom to give opinions and give suggestions and them to be taken in the right spirit.”
KKR have yet to name their captain publicly, but Iyer says if offered the role, he won’t shy away from accepting it.
“I’ve always wanted to be that person. And if captaincy comes my way, I would definitely want to do it. There’s no ambiguity surrounding this. I’ll definitely do it if it comes my way. There is no reason not to do it.”
Iyer has been a part of KKR since 2021 and was released ahead of the mega-auction. Having contributed to the franchise with both and ball for KKR, he has always been a part of the core. So, it came as a shock to many when KKR decided against retaining him. But the saga was far from over. KKR went all out to buy him back on day one of the mega-auction.
KKR will play the tournament opener against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on March 22 in Kolkata. This means they have just a month to make the decision. Reports have it that the final decision on the captain has already been made, but the franchise has deliberately withheld the announcement, due to India’s packed domestic schedule.
Iyer, for one, was glad that players were not disturbed in the middle of the season.
“It’s good that they’re giving players their space and letting them focus on domestic cricket. Whenever it comes, we’ll see about it.”
