Shreyas Iyer announced as Kolkata Knight Riders captain for IPL 2022

Shreyas Iyer has been announced as Kolkata Knight Riders captain for IPL 2022, the franchise confirmed on Twitter.

Shreyas Iyer has been announced as Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2022 season of the IPL, the franchise confirmed on Twitter on Wednesday. The India batter was snapped up for ₹12.25 crore at the IPL 2022 auction with the two-time champions and was the third costliest buy behind India team-mates Ishan Kishan and Deepak Chahar, becomes the franchise's sixth captain overall.

Shreyas Iyer. (Getty)

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, say hello to the NEW SKIPPER of the #GalaxyOfKnights," KKR tweeted.

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Iyer led the Delhi Capitals brilliantly in the 2020 edition of the IPL, where the team reached the final but bowed out to Mumbai Indians in the summit clash. That year, Iyer had amassed 519 runs from 17 matches an an impressive average of 34.60 including a best of 88 not out against KKR. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury limited Iyer's participation the next year and DC went ahead with Rishabh Pant as their captain.

"I am extremely honoured to have gotten the opportunity to lead a prestigious team like KKR," Iyer said. "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. Kolkata and The Eden Gardens have a very rich history when it comes to Indian cricket and I look forward to contributing to this rich history and making our fans proud of us as a team."

Not to say there isn't more to Iyer's captaincy prowess. Having taken over captaincy midway through the 2018 season, Iyer became the youngest player to lead DC in the IPL. In his first match as captain, Iyer scored an unbeaten 93 off 40 balls, also against KKR and created a few records. He came the first captain to hit 10 sixes in an IPL innings and scored the most runs on IPL captaincy debut piping Aaron Finch's 64 vs Punjab Kings in 2013.

That evening, Iyer joins the elite list of IPL captains who scored a half-century on captaincy debut, becoming only the fourth after Adam Gilchrist, Murali Vijay and Finch. The following year in 2019, Iyer was even better as not only did he score an impressive 463 runs but also led DC to their first playoff in seven years.

"I am very excited to have one of India's brightest future leaders in Shreyas Iyer, take the reins at KKR. I've enjoyed Shreyas' game and his captaincy skills from afar and now will look forward to working closely with him to drive forward the success and style of play we want at KKR," head coach Brendon McCullum said.

Iyer becomes KKR's third captain in one year. Last 2021, the franchise replaced Dinesh Karthik with Eoin Morgan as its captain but this time around, with both former cricketers no longer part of the Knight Riders unit, KKR have identified their next captain in Iyer. He becomes the sixth overall captain of the franchise after Sourav Ganguly, McCullum, Gautam Gambhir, Karthik and Morgan and would look to cement his legacy by taking KKR to its third IPL crown.

"We are delighted firstly to have been able to successfully bid for Shreyas in the IPL auction & to have the opportunity for him to lead KKR," Venky Mysore, CEO & MD of KKR said. "He has impressed one & all as a quality batsman at the highest level & we are confident that he will excel as a leader of KKR."