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 Test captain Pat Cummins at the last auction, Kolkata Knight Riders chose Shreyas Iyer to lead the team as the new captain. KKR mentor David Hussey talking to journalists in a media interaction organised by the team called Iyer a born leader.
Iyer, who had captained Delhi Capitals in 2020 and taken them to their maiden final, was released after the 2021 season and KKR splurged a whopping Rs. 12.25 crore to acquire the services of the prolific Mumbaikar. KKR were in the hunt for a new captain after they released Eoin Morgan ahead of the players’ auction and they looked to Iyer to fulfill that role.
“Shreyas is a born leader. Just the way he walks out and sort of commands. He gets all the respect of the players. Knowing Pat (Cummins) really well, he would be a good deputy and good leader amongst the group. He would also lead from the front, but the way Shreyas has captained in the past for Delhi, he has a very good cricketing brain,” Hussey said in response to a question by TimesofIndia.com in the media interaction.

Shreyas Iyer (Image credit: KKR/BCCI/IPL)
Shreyas, who had captained Delhi Capitals to their only IPL final so far in 2020, has played 87 IPL games in his career so far and scored 2375 runs at an average of 31.66. He has 16 half-centuries under his belt.
“Shreyas has a nice vision of how to play the game and I think he will express himself really well. I think it’s a smart move from Brendon (McCullum) and KKR management,” Hussey further said in a response to a question by TimesofIndia.com.
KKR also roped in veteran Ajinkya Rahane at the last auction, a move that raised quite a few eyebrows, especially considering Rahane was dropped from the Indian Test team as well. Rahane was picked up at his base price of Rs 1 crore.
Rahane was part of the Delhi Capitals team last season but featured in just 2 matches. The man with a 151-match experience in the IPL was seen warming 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-getter 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 role does the KKR management have in mind for Rahane in the cut-throat world of IPL competition?
In response to this David Hussey said: “Rahane is a class player. He has been a class player for over a decade. He dominated Indian cricket. He dominated for Rajasthan Royals. I still feel he has 5 to 10 years of international cricket left in him. He is a class cricketer,”
“He might not be scoring the runs recently but the way he is training and the way he is working on his game, he’s going to dominate in the IPL and score a lot of runs. Also, he’s a leader amongst the group as well. He is focusing on his on-field performances and also helping youngsters off the field. He is a quality human being,” Hussey signed off.