Picture Credit: X/IPL
In an enthralling night at Chepauk Stadium on Sunday, Kolkata Knight Riders concluded the 17th season of IPL by getting their name on the coveted trophy for the third time. Under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, the purple outfit was delighted to lift the title after a 10-year-long wait. While the team continued with their celebrations, what caught the eyeballs was their skipper Shreyas Iyer's walk during the team celebration, which resembled the iconic walk of Argentina skipper Lionel Messi, when the team was crowned FIFA World Cup champions in 2022.
Kolkata, who were asked to field first in the title clash, got off to an exhilarating start when the Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc left an indelible mark with his pitching in the opening spell. This was aided by majestic bowling contribution by other KKR bowlers, which restricted Pat Cummins’ side to the lowest-ever total in an IPL final, i.e.; 113. Starring in the chase, Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz helped the SRK-co-owned side to complete the chase in just 10.3 overs and make way for their win.
Shreyas Iyer, who became the fifth Indian captain after MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and Hardik Pandya, led the squad during the celebrations as well as he echoed Messi’s celebratory walk while handing the trophy to the squad. It was his second final as a skipper, the first one being came up for Delhi Capitals in 2020.
Shreyas Iyer, who missed out on a flight to the USA and the West Indies for the T20 World Cup 2024 performed brilliantly this season, scoring 351 runs in 15 games with a strike rate of 146.86 and two half-centuries, most crucially coming in the Qualifier 1 against the same opposition. Moreover, on Sunday, he became the first captain to lead two different franchises in the IPL finale, after doing it for the first time in 2020 with Delhi Capitals.
