KKR Captain Shreyas Iyer To Be Available From Start Of IPL 2024: Report
Mumbai: Following reports of Shreyas Iyer missing the initial few matches in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), the Kolkata Knight Riders captain is likely to be available for selection from the first match itself on March 23. The right-hander who was a part of the title-winning Mumbai side against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy, suffered a bit of discomfort on his back while batting in the second innings, prompting many to speculate the 29-year-old to miss the initial few matches.
According to a report in RevSportz, Iyer didn’t field in the fourth and fifth days of the Ranji Trophy final, due to precautionary measures but will play from the start of IPL. After Mumbai’s record 42nd Ranji Trophy win on Thursday, Iyer was seen dancing in jubilation at the Wankhede Stadium.
“Shreyas is scheduled to join the KKR camp on Friday. He is unlikely to miss games,” a source was quoted as saying to RevSportz. Iyer had missed the entire IPL 2023 due to back spasms and also underwent surgery in the United Kingdom last year before returning fit to play in the ODI World Cup.
The right-hander batted more than three hours for his 95 off 111 balls in Mumbai’s second innings and has a tendency to develop back spasms while batting for longer periods. KKR start their IPL 2024 campaign on March 23 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, after having a pre-season camp in at the KKR academy in Mumbai, all domestic Indian players (except captain Shreyas Iyer) along with the support staff arrived in Kolkata on Thursday evening. Middle-order batter Rinku Singh and mentor Gautam Gambhir received a huge welcome at the Kolkata airport.
This will be Gambhir’s homecoming at KKR. Gambhir’s previous association with KKR from 2011-17 was nothing short of historic. During this period, the team won the title twice, qualified for the playoffs five times, and reached the finals of the Champions League T20 in 2014.
Meanwhile, KKR made some good shopping during the auction in Dubai last year with Australian Mitchell Starc grabbing all the headlines. The two-time champions spend a whopping Rs 24.75 crore on the Australian World Cup-winner, making Starc the costliest player in the history of IPL.
Among the recent changes at the KKR camp, Phil Salt and Dusmantha Chameera replaced Jason Roy and Gus Atkinson for IPL 2024. While Roy pulled out due to personal reasons, Atkinson’s withdrawal is yet to be known.
KKR’S Squad for IPL 2024: Shreyas Iyer (C), Andre Russell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Chetan Sakariya, Dushmantha Chameera, Harshit Rana, KS Bharat, Manish Pandey, Mitchell Starc, Mujeeb Rahman, Nitish Rana, Phil Salt, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Sakib Hussain, Sherfane Rutherford, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer.