Former West Indies bowler turned cricket commentator Ian Bishop was unhappy with fans for not showing enough praise and admiration for Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer for the team’s brilliant campaign in the ongoing IPL season.
Kolkata Knight Riders moved to the top of the points table after defeating Lucknow Super Giants at Ekana Cricket Stadium on Sunday, May 5. After posting a total of 235/6 on the board, thanks to brilliant batting by Sunil Narine (81) and a fine cameo by Ramandeep Singh (25*), KKR bundled out LSG for 137.
Despite KKR’s win, Shreyas Iyer was not getting enough praise rather fans were crediting mentor Gautam Gambhir for the victory. This led to Ian Bishop asking whether is there any love for KKR skipper.
Former West Indies bowler took to his X handle (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Any love for Shreyas Iyer????”
However, a fan explained why mentor Gautam Gambhir should be credited for the team’s brilliant season instead of Shreyas Iyer. He wrote that Gambhir has had a huge impact in turn the team’s around in the ongoing IPL season.
“Shreyas captained the same side in 2022 and we all know the results. Of course he’s a decent captain but GG has much bigger impact to turn things around for this team.” an X user Sudipita wrote.
In response to the user’s comment, Ian Bishop pointed that how Shreyas Iyer as a captain went from strength to strength after taking over leadership baton from Gautam Gambhir at Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) in midway through IPL 2018.
“@Sudipta_Espan Shreyas became DC captain in 2018 when GG stepped down after DC lost 5 of first 6 gms. DC then finished the season winning 4 of next 8 games. 2019 DC 3rd, 2020 DC 2nd. 2021 injury & only 8gms so Pant captained. To KKR 2022, new franchise, 7th. Missed 2023. 2024….” Bishop wrote on X.
The same X user didn’t deny the fact that Shreyas Iyer is a ‘decent’ captain but explained how KKR had a lot of problems in 2022, especially Shreyas Iyer’s short-ball issues. He further said that how Gautam Gambhir’s presence in the setup as a mentor made a huge impact in team’s combination.
“I accepted sir he’s a decent captain. But if we look only KKR there was lot of problems in 2022 & biggest 2 was being targeted by short balls+PP batting. Both Baz+Shreyas were unable to solve that throughout the season.” Sudipita wrote.
“But GG came back, he worked his magic on Narine & kept young Angkrish as backup for early PP wicket & sent Shreyas+Venky in middle overs against spin where they’re more comfortable. Now we all can the huge impact of this calls,Shreyas may have some role in this but main man is GG.” he added.
However, Ian Bishop was apparently unhappy with the fan giving a whole credit to mentor Gautam Gambhir for KKR’s turnaround in IPL 2024 as former West Indies bowler asked the fan whether whether he would fault Gambhir if the team lost a match.
Kolkata Knight Riders failed to qualify for the playoffs in the last two seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The ongoing season of the tournament has witnessed extraordinary turnaround by winning 8 matches in 11 outings and accumulated 16 points. The two-time IPL champions have almost sealed their berth for the playoffs.
