Ahead of his facet’s Indian Premier League (IPL) remaining conflict towards Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Shreyas Iyer, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper, opened up on his struggles with again points after the Cricket World Cup final yr and the way no person was agreeing with it. KKR and SRH might be locking horns within the remaining of the IPL 2024 at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium on Sunday. KKR completed the league stage on the highest of the factors desk with 9 wins, three losses and two no outcomes, giving them 20 factors. They earned a direct spot within the remaining by defeating SRH within the qualifier one. SRH bought a second shot on the title within the qualifier two towards Rajasthan Royals (RR) they usually made most of it by defeating the Men in Pink by 36 runs.
KKR vs SRH Head To Head Record
In 27 matches between KKR and SRH, Kolkata has dominated the head-to-head file, claiming victory in 18 encounters, whereas SRH has managed 9 wins. (KKR vs SRH IPL 2024 Final Chennai Weather Report: What Happens If Match Is Washed Out?)
It has been a tricky and blended previous few months for Iyer. After scuffling with health points and kind final yr, Iyer lastly made his Indian comeback in Asia Cup the place he as soon as once more confronted again points. He made his return within the ODI sequence towards Australia simply earlier than the World Cup and solidified his spot within the middle-order. Despite a tough begin to the marquee match, Iyer had an all-time nice World Cup marketing campaign.
Iyer ended the match with 530 runs at a mean of 66.25 with two centuries and three fifties, scoring probably the most runs by a middle-order batter within the match’s historical past and changing into the first-ever middle-order batter in WC to the touch the 500-run mark. Iyer achieved his peak kind close to the match finish, together with two successive centuries towards the Netherlands and New Zealand, with the latter coming within the semifinals towards India’s arch-nemesis in 67 balls, the fastest-ever in a knockout WC recreation. However, he was dismissed for simply 4 runs within the remaining which India misplaced to Australia.
However after it, Iyer had a disappointing Test outing in South Africa. He warmed up for the following Test problem towards England at dwelling from January to March by enjoying a Ranji Trophy match, however he was dropped from the remaining three Tests after poor scores in first two Tests. He then missed the Ranji quarters resulting from again spasm, regardless of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI)’s directive to not skip it. But he returned for the semifinal and scored 95 runs within the remaining, however missed loads of recreation time through the title conflict resulting from again ache. However, regardless of enjoying an important position in Mumbai’s forty second triumph, Iyer’s return to home red-ball cricket appeared a bit too late as his title was dropped from BCCI’s Central Contract checklist in February.
Now, coming to the IPL, Iyer has participated in all of the video games and received approval for his management, main KKR into the finals. In 14 matches and 13 innings, Iyer has scored 345 runs at a mean of 38.33 and a strike charge of 146.18, with two half-centuries. His finest rating is 58*, in qualifiers one towards SRH. (‘Yuvi Paji Said I Can Be A Better Bowler Than Him’: SRH’s Abhishek Sharma Following Match-Winning Spell Against RR)
Speaking forward of the ultimate conflict, Iyer mentioned through the press convention, “I was definitely struggling after the World Cup in the longer format (with back issues). When I raised my concern, no one was agreeing to it.”
“But at the same time the competition is with myself. When the IPL was approaching all I wanted to see was that I have put my best foot forward and whatever planning and strategising we [KKR] did before it, basically if we could execute it to the best of our abilities, we would have been in a great spot – and that is where we are right now,” he added.
Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who led KKR to 2 titles again in 2012 and 2014, returned as a mentor for this yr’s match for the Knights after two underwhelming seasons spent close to the underside of the factors desk.
Talking about Gambhir’s return to the franchise, Iyer mentioned hilariously, “The hype is definitely created by you guys (about Gambhir’s return).” (IPL 2024 Final: Head Vs Starc To Narine Vs Bhuvneshwar; Key Battles To Watch For)
He additionally lauded Gambhir’s “immense knowledge of the game”. “His strategies have been spot on in terms of what we have to execute against our opponents. He adds a lot of cream to the team and hopefully we continue the same momentum in the final,” he added.
Talking about his preparations for the IPL, Iyer mentioned that transitioning from red-ball cricket to the white-ball cricket after the Ranji Trophy remaining was troublesome each for batters and bowlers.
“It was kind of difficult at the start but once you get used to it, I think you pick up the pace and march on with the other players,” he added.
Iyer mentioned that KKR being two-time champions and one time runners-up doesn’t give them any benefit over SRH being a one-time champion and two-time runners-up.
“It is on skill and mindset tomorrow. The best team is going to win,” he added.
On the enjoying floor, the wicket is completely different from what it was yesterday through the qualifier two between SRH and Rajasthan Royals (RR), mentioned Iyer.
“It is red soil, yesterday it was black. Looking through TV, we thought dew was going to play a role, but it did not the ball started spinning,” he concluded.
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Nitish Rana, Srikar Bharat, Sherfane Rutherford, Dushmantha Chameera, Chetan Sakariya, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sakib Hussain, Suyash Sharma, Allah Ghazanfar
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Jaydev Unadkat, Shahbaz Ahmed, Umran Malik, Sanvir Singh, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Markande, Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh.
