Shreyas Iyer never loses his composure or panics: AB de Villiers praises the KKR captain

IPL 2024: After KKR advanced to the postseason, AB de Villiers commended Shreyas Iyer for his captaincy. The final league game for the Knight Riders will be against Rajasthan.

Shreyas Iyer of KKR was praised by former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers for the team's amazing 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) journey. Thanks to victories in nine of their thirteen games, the Knight Riders emerged as the first club to qualify for the postseason, sitting atop the standings with 19 points and a net run rate of +1.428.

The 29-year-old Shreyas took over as the team's captain in 2022, succeeding Eoin Morgan as the two-time champions. A back injury kept him out of the 2023 edition when Nitish Rana was the leader. Shreyas returned this season and asserted his dominance.

After the 2021 Indian Premier League, De Villiers, who had given up on cricket altogether, praised Shreyas for his ability to remain composed and not give in to fear.

“Shreyas Iyer has been absolutely incredible. There have been a lot of doubts and talks about him as captain. I punted him from the start of the tournament. He is a wise guy, a smart cricketer and I love the way he is calm and composed as a captain. He never seems to get rushed, never seems to panic even though you know deep down that you feel some panic, especially playing at the Eden Gardens,” De Villiers remarked on his YouTube channel.

‘Not easy to captain senior players’

Captaining seasoned cricket players is not an easy task, according to De Villiers. He claimed that Shreyas had demonstrated great precision in leading players like Andre Russell and Sunil Narine.

“It’s not easy to captain senior players who have been around for ages, especially Narine and Russell. We know that the West Indies have got different personalities, they are outgoing and can be outspoken sometimes. It must be sometimes difficult with a difference in culture to communicate properly with some of these experienced players,” De Villiers stated.

KKR may try to use their bench strength when they play Rajasthan on Sunday, May 19, at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, given they have already secured their spot in the qualifier.