"Here to bring back the glory days" - Twitterati rejoice at Shreyas Iyer's appointment as KKR captain
Bringing an end to some speculation and a lot of hype, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) announced Shreyas Iyer as their new captain on Wednesday. Iyer was KKR's most expensive buy at the recent IPL 2022 Auction at ₹12.25 crore.
The 27-year-old middle-order batter has extensive experience of leading Mumbai in domestic cricket and the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL. He was given DC's reins midway through the 2018 season amidst the franchise's most tumultuous time.
Shreyas Iyer led the young side with gumption and rebuilt the structure from scratch alongside head coach Ricky Ponting. In 2020, he became the first and only DC captain to lead the franchise to an IPL final. Overall, he's captained in 43 IPL matches, registering 23 wins and 18 losses.
KKR needed a leader after they decided to move on from Eoin Morgan. The Englishman led the team to a runners-up finish last season, but drastically failed with the bat. Pat Cummins, who recently propelled Australia to a dominating Ashes win at home in his first stint as Test skipper, was touted as another captaincy candidate.
In Shreyas Iyer, KKR will want to find a long-term leader who, apart from being a batting rock, could lead the franchise's development to a modern T20 powerhouse.
KKR fans and the cricket fraternity in general looked jubilant by the announcement, as they took to Twitter to express their reactions. However, a section of fans were also unhappy that Cummins wasn't given the captaincy duties.
The following are the best of the reactions:
Skipp-Iyer 🤝 Kolkata 🤝 Knight Riders
Stepping into the new era of #GalaxyOfKnights 🔥
@ShreyasIyer15 #IPL2022 #ShreyasIyer #KKR #CricketTwitter #AmiKKR https://t.co/eEZjHLstyZ
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 Finally got the news. Very happy for him as well as the franchise. Congratulations @ShreyasIyer15 💜
JUST IN: The Kolkata Knight Riders appoint Shreyas Iyer captain for upcoming #IPL2022. Good choice, for both KKR and Indian cricket!
Dissected it on Dec 16, 2021. Was very obvious of course the moment @KKRiders went for him in the auction that Shreyas Iyer would be appointed captain. They've got one for the long-term now #IPL2022MegaAuction #IPL
sportskeeda.com/cricket/ipl-20…
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 He left DC just bcoz of huge money & now gonna lead Morgan's KKR......sorry but its not a cup of tea like Morgan-Gambhir & Ganguli😃😃
#BottomSpotLoading
Shreyas Iyer is the new captain of Kolkata Knight Riders ❤️🔥
#ShreyasIyer #IPL2022
https://t.co/OHn0BPOPCe
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 Congratulations Captain Shreyas.. The new Era Begins.. #GalaxyOfKnights
Shreyas Iyer is the new captain of KKR. Coincidentally, his captaincy debut in IPL was against KKR.
#Cricket #IPL #IndvsWI #IPL2022
@Purana_Lucknow @KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 Shreyas Iyer is a long term captain prospect for KKR like Rishabh Pant of DC, Sanju of RR, Rahul of LSG...
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, say hello 
to the NEW SKIPPER of the #GalaxyOfKnights 
Now bring this Monster back tonight👊👊👊 #ShreyasIyer twitter.com/kkriders/statu… https://t.co/JNRWwGzb8c
This is the beginning, and the dawn of a new era of @KKRiders 💜💛
Captain 𝙎𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙮𝙖𝙨 𝙄𝙮𝙚𝙧 is here to reign & bring back the glory days✊
All the best Skipper 🙌🔥
#KKR https://t.co/GZn4HH6Acf
@KKRiders @EthanHUNT_41 @ShreyasIyer15 Dream come true moment 🥺
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 Hope he follows footsteps of GG, who also came from Delhi franchise and changed KKR forever. 💜💜💜
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 now get the third star printed 👀
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 Iyer had captained the IPL for the first time in 2018 against KKR from DC's side, and was also a mom the match,
today in 2022 he became the new captain of KKR.
🔥🔥
Go well young man iyer https://t.co/ROurFtKHSE
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 https://t.co/zyCMobcQA2
@KKRiders @ShreyasIyer15 Would have gone for Pat ,
Iyer seems tooo casual about everything.
The only leader ever that KKR had was Gautam Gambhir , lagta tha ki maar peet hogi , maza aata tha .
@CricCrazyJohns KKR to Shreyas Iyer. https://t.co/CiIUXnNVKf
It will be a real challenge for Shreyas Iyer to lead and be successful with a side that has so many flaws in its construction.
But I am looking forward to his development and growth! Both as a batter and as a leader!
#IPL2022 twitter.com/CricXtasy/stat…
@ESPNcricinfo It was a kinda obvious… ain’t it! #KKR had bought him on that high price only because of this. He’s a fab Skipper material,TBH. Happy for #ShreyasIyer. Hope, someday he will be a part of #MumbaiIndians 🤞🏼. Supremely talented player.
#IPL2022 #IPL #IPLAUCTION
OMGGGG OMGGG..
waise I knew he would be the captain.. but glad he is officially appointed..
GOOD LUCK MY FUTURE INDIA CAPTAIN ... #ShreyasIyer twitter.com/mufaddal_vohra…
@ayebonda Rana after beating Shreyas Iyer to the orange cap https://t.co/Br0HjbtPAJ
"Extremely honored" - Shreyas Iyer on being announced KKR captain
In an official statement, Shreyas Iyer said he is "extremely honored" to have got the job and thanked the franchise stakeholders for showing faith in him.
He said:
“I am extremely honoured to have gotten the opportunity to lead a prestigious team like KKR. The IPL as a tournament brings the best players from different countries and cultures together and I look forward to leading this great group of very talented individuals. I would like to thank the owners, management and support staff of KKR for giving me the opportunity to lead this team and I am confident that we will find the right synergies to achieve the team's goals."
The IPL 2022 season is likely to kick off in the last week of March.