Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) new skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field first in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 opener against defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
"I am super excited. It is a great honour to don this jersey. The players who have been playing for this unit have been doing well. The track seems to be a belter and the dew will come in later and make it better. We are going in with three overseas players. Three of us got caps today. Myself, Billings and Rahane," Iyer said after winning the toss.
"Big shoes to fill in. Happy and excited for the new role. We are going with four foreign players. Conway, Bravo, Milne and Santner are our foreign players," Jadeja said on his captaincy debut in IPL.
The two teams have faced each other on 25 occasions. CSK have beaten KKR for 18 times whereas seven went in KKR's favour.
Playing XIs
KKR: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings(wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Jackson, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy
CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja (c), Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tushar Deshpande
“Nothing much changes for me from last year. Same responsibility for me. As an opening batsman there is always a challenge to give good starts and that stays the same. Jadeja has been dominating international cricket for a long time now and it's the time is ripe for him to get the captaincy. I am really excited and looking forward to it (the season),” Ruturaj Gaikwad, the Orange Cap-winner of the previous season said before the IPL 2022 opener.
“It is a new season. I have forgotten what happened in the last season but have just carried forward the confidence into this season. We were very close to winning the tournament last season but would want to do better this season and try to win it this time. I have always said that as a batter I want to be flexible with my batting position. I would try to fulfill my duty wherever I get to bat. I don't have a preferred position in mind as to where I should be batting,” KKR opener Venkatesh Iyer said about his role in the team.
“Shreyas I think is a born leader. He is supremely confident. He is in good form with the bat as well and that augurs well for us. He promotes a very positive brand of cricket and that is what KKR is known for as well. I talked to him when we were playing for India and he seems to be a man on a mission. Hopefully, we can win the IPL,” Venkatesh lauded the new KKR skipper.
