The legendary Anil Kumble warned that the Kolkata Knight Riders “took the wrong decision” by allowing Shreyas Iyer and Phil Salt to depart following their 2024 championship campaign. The three-time IPL champions cannot be regarded as serious title contenders unless they recognize the significance of keeping important players.
While Phil Salt, another crucial component of KKR’s success in 2024, moved to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where he significantly contributed to the team’s first title victory last year, Iyer left KKR to join Punjab Kings, whom he guided to their first appearance in the IPL final in almost ten years in the previous edition.
“Two years ago, KKR won the IPL and lifted their third trophy. Two important cogs in that wheel were Shreyas Iyer and Phil Salt. Both played crucial roles in helping them win but KKR let both of them go,” PTI quoted Kumble as saying in a JioHotstar release.
“There is no consistency from them in terms of player retention. KKR took the wrong decision by letting Shreyas Iyer and Phil Salt leave (and) that has left them without an IPL-winning captain.”
Kumble pointed out that although Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of KKR, is a seasoned campaigner, he has not yet won an IPL as captain.
“Yes, Ajinkya Rahane is an experienced campaigner. He has led Mumbai in domestic cricket and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. But he has not lifted the IPL title as (a) captain (yet),” Kumble said.
“Having a skipper who has won the trophy gives you an advantage. KKR let go of that advantage. They need to learn how to keep hold of their key players. Otherwise, they will keep struggling and cannot be considered favourites to win the trophy,” the legendary spinner added.
The former captain of India praised Iyer’s leadership abilities for leading the Punjab Kings to the IPL final the previous season.
“Shreyas Iyer is certainly an underrated skipper. It is not easy to win a trophy with one franchise and then go to another. There is a different management, atmosphere and a team. The pressure is also different,” he noted.
“…the new franchise he joined had not played in the final in the last 10 years and in just his first season with the Punjab Kings, he took them to the final. I was not just impressed by his captaincy, but (also with) the way he led the team from the front.”
“There are some players who have to prove themselves every time. Shreyas is like that. Even after performing, questions still come up. I think he is underrated, but is an exceptional leader.”
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head of Sunrisers Hyderabad are “more destructive” than former Royal Challengers Bengaluru openers Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle, according to former India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.
“In the last couple of seasons, what we have seen from the openers of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, I can certainly say they are one of the most destructive opening pairs in IPL history,” Pujara said.
“Both are batters who know how to attack from ball one. SRH has consistently crossed the 250-run mark in the last couple of seasons thanks to them. No other team in the IPL has done that consistently.
“When we talk about aggressive opening pairs in the IPL, the pair of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli comes to mind. But this duo of Head and Abhishek is even more destructive. No bowler wants to run in and bowl against an opening pair like Abhishek and Head,” he added.
However, Pujara stated that SRH will need to improve their away record because they have remained a formidable team due to their strength throughout departments.
“SRH are a very destructive side and score a lot of runs when they play at home in Hyderabad. But away from home, their record is very poor. When they play away matches, they fail to maintain their destructive batting intent. That is because all the teams know that SRH rely on their batting power to set big totals,” he said.
