KKR vs SRH: Shreyas Iyer struggles against leg spinners, observes Mohammed Kaif

Mumbai: Ahead of Kolkata Knight Rider’s crucial do-or-die clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif said KKR captain Shreyas Iyer is a talented batter, who knows how to deal with the pressure but has chinks in his armour.

“Shreyas Iyer is a class batsman,” Kaif said. “He loves to play under pressure and knows how to score runs consistently. He likes playing long and impactful innings. He is a brilliant captain and can put KKR in the right direction with his batting.”

Kaif also expressed his concern over Iyer’s struggle against leg-spinners and claimed it is one area where the right-handed batter needs to work on.

“Shreyas has one weakness though. He doesn’t play leg spinners well and tends to get deceived by the turn and flight from the leggies. It is surprising to see an Indian batter struggle consistently against leg-spin.

“He’s been dismissed by leg-spinners quite a few times in this season too. Be it Ravi Bishnoi or Rahul Chahar or Kuldeep Yadav, everyone has troubled him but he never looks to see their overs through. Instead, he continues to play those attacking shots and gets dismissed. I think there is a lot of improvement required in this department. But at the same time, there are several qualities about Shreyas which make him a special batter,” he added.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, however, said Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Shreyas Iyer can now bat freely as the middle-order batters have started making contributions in IPL 2022.

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In the most exciting IPL season, the Indian core of KKR’s batting line-up looks to have finally found the form as Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh are contributing with the bat in the middle order.

Even opener Venkatesh Iyer was back amongst runs the previous game against Mumbai Indians. Gavaskar believes it will bode well for captain Iyer and he can now look to bat with freedom.

“Shreyas Iyer is a premier player for KKR, he’s been a premier player for whichever franchise he’s played for,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports. “It’s good to see that Shreyas doesn’t have to share all the burden in the batting department. The recent exploits of Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh will give him the confidence to bat freely and play those big shots early in the innings.”

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