IPL 2022: Brendon McCullum is an aggressive coach, looking forward to working with him – Shreyas Iyer

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer has stated that Brendon McCullum is an aggressive coach and he is looking forward to working with him.

Iyer was bagged by Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2022 auction for a whopping amount of INR 12.25 crores and the management decided to hand over the captaincy duty to him.

Iyer had led Delhi Capitals to the final of the tournament in IPL 2020 and he has shown the right leadership skills. But, Iyer suffered a shoulder injury during the series against England before IPL 2021 and thus he was ruled out of the first leg of the tournament. Delhi then decided to appoint Rishabh Pant as their new captain.

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has been in sublime form in the recent past. The 27-year old batter scored 204 runs in three T20Is against Sri Lanka at an impressive strike rate of 174.36. Furthermore, he remained unbeaten throughout the series and returned with scores of 57, 74, and 73. Thus, he played a key role in India’s 3-0 win over the tourists and was awarded the Player of the series. Iyer will look to continue his rich form in the IPL and will aim to lead from the front.

“You know, for me to be part of the KKR family is an enormous feeling. I want to really appreciate the work which has been done by all the great players in the past and I would like to follow the same footsteps, which they have created for KKR,” Iyer said in an interview with the franchise.

“Brendon McCullum as a coach I feel is very aggressive. Even when you saw him playing for his country (New Zealand), he was someone who was very aggressive and he is kind of a risk-taker.

“And I absolutely love that. Obviously, I’ve had few interactions with him after the auction. He’s got that calm demeanor and I’m really looking forward to working with him, and to have some very successful seasons for KKR over the years.”

On the other hand, Iyer admitted that his heart was pumping hard when the auctions were going on. KKR kept bidding for Iyer as they needed a new skipper.

“I was watching the auction and KKR went for me right from the start. There were some other big franchises as well coming along and I remember the battle was going on. We, all of our team members were sitting together and watching the auction on TV,” Iyer said.

“My heart was pumping, and I wasn’t able to control my emotions. I was trying to act relaxed, but you know, andar hi andar se (from inside), I was feeling a little nervous. Eventually, KKR got me, that feeling was amazing. I’m really proud, considering the rich history and to be coming into the KKR setup.”

IPL 2022 will begin on March 26.