[Watch] Shreyas Iyer imitates Sunil Narine's bowling action in the KKR nets
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer tried to replicate teammate and ace spinner Sunil Narine's bowling action at the nets ahead of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clash on April 8.
Unfortunately, the fun and games ended there for KKR as they suffered a seven-wicket defeat at the Chepauk Stadium. It was their first loss of the 2024 IPL season after winning three straight games.
Both Iyer and Narine tried their level best with the bat in KKR's below-par total of 137/9 on a tacky Chennai wicket, scoring 34 and 27, respectively.
Here is a video of Shreyas Iyer trying to copy Sunil Narine's action ahead of the CSK outing:
Sunil Narine has been in impeccable form with bat and ball thus far in four games this season. Back to opening the batting, the 35-year-old has scored 161 runs at an average of over 40 and a strike rate of 189.41. While his bowling has produced only four wickets, Narine has been as miserly as ever with an economy rate of 7.37.
Meanwhile, skipper Shreyas Iyer hasn't been in the best of forms, scoring only 91 runs at an average of 30.33 and a strike rate of 131.88 in four games. The 29-year-old missed the entire last season where KKR missed the playoffs under the leadership of Nitish Rana.
"The wicket changed after the powerplay" - Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer admitted his side wasn't able to adapt to the Chennai pitch, which changed completely after the powerplay during their batting innings. KKR were off to their usual blistering start at 56/1 after the powerplay.
However, things went down with the introduction of Ravindra Jadeja, with the left-arm spinner picking three quick wickets to dent KKR's progress. The visitors failed to regain any momentum on a wearing wicket and posted a sub-par total in the end.
At the post-match presentation, Iyer blamed the loss on KKR's inability to cope with the contrasting conditions once the powerplay was completed.
"The wicket changed after the powerplay. We were in a comfortable place and we thought 160-170 was a good score, but we lost momentum. We have to go back to the drawing board and got to learn from that. I am glad this happened at the start of the tournament. When we go back, we know our home conditions pretty well. We need to analyse the situations and need to make the best use of it," said Iyer.
Despite the loss, KKR are still sitting pretty at second on the points table behind only RR. They will look to get back to winning ways in their next encounter against LSG on Sunday, April 14.