"Let's not forget this game is played on the ground" - Aakash Chopra lauds Shreyas Iyer's captaincy in KKR's IPL 2024 win

Aakash Chopra has lauded Shreyas Iyer's captaincy in the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) title-winning run in IPL 2024. While acknowledging Gautam Gambhir's contribution as the mentor, he noted that the KKR captain managed the team brilliantly on the field.

KKR registered a comprehensive eight-wicket win in the IPL 2024 final against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Chennai on Sunday, May 26. They first bundled Pat Cummins and company out for 113 and then chased the target down with 57 deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Shreyas deserves as much credit as Gambhir for KKR's turnaround this season.

"There is a list of captains who have taken two teams to the final. Only one - that is Shreyas Iyer. He played a final with Delhi and made Kolkata reach the final and won them the trophy. He wasn't there last year and his absence was felt but now he was there," he said (8:00).

"We praise Guru Gautam a lot, which should be done as well because he was the enabler, there is no doubt about that, but let's not forget this game is played on the ground and the captain has a massive role in that. You have to take decisions instinctively and collectively keep the team together and Shreyas Iyer showed that by doing it," the former India opener added.

KKR finished seventh in IPL 2023 in Shreyas' absence due to a back injury. They finished atop the points table in the league phase this season and eventually bagged their third IPL title.

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"Starc was conceding 50 runs in every match at the start but he didn't write him off" - Harbhajan Singh on Shreyas Iyer extracting the best from his players

Mitchell Starc was taken to the cleaners at the start of IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Speaking on Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh praised Shreyas Iyer for extracting the best from his players and sticking with Mitchell Starc, who was underperforming at the start of the season.

"A good captain is one who extracts the best from every player in his team, and there is not even one player who hasn't given his best. Starc was conceding 50 runs in every match at the start but he didn't write him off. He played him continuously because he knew such players would shine on the big stage," he said.

"We didn't even get to see Rinku Singh this year but you need to praise Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine, who changed the definition of batting at the top. His batting was incredible. The credit goes to each and every member of the team. Shreyas Iyer is a good captain but extracting the best from the team is a sign of a good leader. So credit to him as well," the former India spinner added.

Irfan Pathan gave two examples of Shreyas' excellent decisions on the field. He noted that the KKR skipper introduced a seamer from the other end to dismiss Abdul Samad when the SRH batter hit two sixes off Sunil Narine's bowling in Qualifier 1. He added that Varun Chakaravarthy was given four overs ahead of Narine in the rain-truncated home league game against the Mumbai Indians (MI).