Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Shreyas Iyer showered rich praise on batter Rinku Singh for maintaining his calm during the tricky chase against Rajasthan Royals (RR) after they won the 47th match of the ongoing IPL 2022 on May 2 at Wankhede Stadium.
Singh smashed an unbeaten 23-ball 42 studded with six boundaries and a six, as well as stitching the unbeaten 66-run stand with Nitish Rana (48*) to help KKR successfully chase 153 runs against RR with 7 wickets in hand.
After winning the match, Iyer lauded Rinku Singh for showing “outstanding” calmness under pressure and called the young batter an “asset” for the KKR.
Shreyas Iyer said during the post-match presentation: “I was talking to my teammates in the dressing room and was like, the way he’s maintaining his calm even in such pressure situations playing his second or third game, it’s outstanding.”
He added, “Building that partnership with Nitish Rana in that situation, it’s something we have to praise about and he’s a great asset for the future in the franchise. The way he has given starts right from the first game, he doesn’t look like a newcomer in the team.”
Meanwhile, the KKR skipper further lauded his bowlers, especially veteran pacer Umesh Yadav (1/24) and Sunil Narine for consistently delivering for the side.
Iyer said, “Right from the powerplay when our bowlers conceded just 36 runs and took a wicket, it was just the start we needed. We have been talking about Umesh right from the start.
He has increased his pace, bowls those hard lengths, and as a captain you just must give him the ball to deliver. Whenever I give Sunil Narine the ball, he gets me wickets, but the batsmen don’t take chances against him. He is very economical, but when he gets a wicket, he gets a big one.”
However, Iyer said that KKR will have to address the issue of their opener’s struggle. He signed off by saying, “We are looking for a good start. I love pressure, but it sweats a lot of me to build the innings in every game.”
(With PTI Inputs)
