IPL 2022: Smart move by Brendon McCullum and KKR management to make Shreyas Iyer captain; Ajinkya Rahane a leader in the group, says KKR mentor David Hussey | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Despite buying back Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins in the last auction, Kolkata Knight Riders picked Shreyas Iyer to lead the team as the new captain. In a media interaction organized by the team, KKR mentor David Hussey, while talking to reporters, described Iyer as a born leader.
Iyer, who captained Delhi Capitals in 2020 and took them to their maiden final, was released after the 2021 season and KKR took home Rs. 12.25 crore to acquire the services of Vipul Mumbaikar. KKR were looking for a new captain after Eoin Morgan was released ahead of the players’ auction and they looked to Iyer to fill that role.
Shreyas is a born leader. The way he goes out and gives a variety of commands. He gets full respect of the players. Knowing Pat (Cummins) really well, he would be a good deputy and a good leader among the group. He will lead from the front too, but the way Shreyas has captained for Delhi in the past, he has a very good cricketing mind,” Hussey said in an interaction with the media in response to a question from TimesofIndia.com.

Shreyas Iyer (Image credit: KKR/BCCI/IPL)
Shreyas, who captained Delhi Capitals in their only IPL final so far in 2020, has played 87 IPL games so far in his career and scored 2375 runs at an average of 31.66. He has 16 fifties to his name.
“Shreyas has a good vision on how to play the game and I think he will express himself really well. I think it is a smart move on the part of Brendon (McCullum) and the KKR management,” Hussey further said in response to a question by TimesofIndia.com.
KKR also included veteran Ajinkya Rahane in the last auction, a move that raised a lot of eyebrows, especially as Rahane was dropped from the Indian Test squad as well. Rahane was bought for his base price of Rs 1 crore.
Rahane was part of the Delhi Capitals squad last season, but he featured in just two matches. The man with experience of 151 matches in IPL was seen heating up the benches in the tournament.
Rahane was the top scorer for Rajasthan Royals in 2019 with 393 runs in 14 matches at an average of 32.75. He was also the third highest run-scorer for his team (RR) in the 2018 season, scoring 370 runs in 15 matches at an average of 28.46.

In the two seasons he played for Rising Pune Supergiants (in 2016 and 2017), Rahane scored 480 runs in 14 matches and 370 runs in 15 matches, respectively.

Ajinkya Rahane (Image credit: KKR/BCCI/IPL)
So what is the role of the KKR management for Rahane in the cut-throat world of IPL competition?
In response, David Hussey said, ‘Rahane is a class player. He has been a class player for over a decade. He was a force to be reckoned with in Indian cricket. He dominated the Rajasthan Royals. I still feel there is 5 to 10 years of international cricket left in him. He is a class cricketer.”
“He hasn’t been scoring runs lately but the way he is training and the way he is working on his game, he is going to dominate the IPL and score a lot of runs. In addition, he is also a leader among the group. He is focusing on his on-field performance and also helping youngsters off the field. He is a quality human being,” Hussey signed off.