Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer penned an emotional note after his team defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2024 Final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, May 26.
KKR won the elusive IPL title for the third time with an eight-wicket win over SRH in an ultimate title clash. With a target of 114, Venkatesh Iyer's unbeaten knock of 54 off 26 balls, along with Rahmanullah Gurbaz's vital contribution of 39 off 32 balls, helped the team chased it down in just 10.3 overs.
KKR bowlers, including Andre Russell (3/19), Mitchell Starc (2/14) and Harshit Rana (2/24) decimated SRH's batting line-up, bundling them out for the lowest score in the history of the IPL final.
Kolkata Knight Riders finally reunited with the IPL trophy after 10 long years. The last time KKR won the elusive IPL title was in 2014, when they defeated Punjab Kings in the final under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, who is now the mentor of the team.
After winning the first IPL title as a captain, Shreyas Iyer took his X handle (formerly Twitter) and lauded his players for sacrificing for each other to win the coveted trophy. He also thanked the owners, management and coaching staff for their support throughout the season that culminated in winning the IPL title.
"To my entire KKR family, we’ve worked tirelessly for this moment. We’ve played for each other, we’ve sacrificed so much for each other, and it’s to get our hands on this prized trophy. To the owners, management, coaching staff, my teammates and the fans, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. IPL Champions 2024." KKR skipper wrote on X.
Under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer and guidance of coach Chandrakant Pandit and mentor Gautam Gambhir, Kolkata Knight Riders witnessed an incredible turnaround in the IPL 2024. KKR finished the league stage as the table toppers with 20 points and became the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
In the Qualifier 1, Kolkata Knight Riders put on a dominant performance with the bat and ball as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Shreyas Iyer become the fifth Indian captain to win IPL title
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer joined MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Hardik Pandya in the elite list of Indian skippers to win an IPL title.
Overall, Iyer is the eighth captain to win an IPL title. The 29-year-old led Delhi Capitals to the IPL Final in 2020 but lost to Mumbai Indians in UAE. Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the last IPL season due to injury and Nitish Rana was replaced him as a captain. But, KKR failed to qualify for playoffs after finishing 7th in the league stage.
In IPL 2024, Shreyas Iyer amassed 351 runs, including 2 fifties, at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 146.86 in 14 matches.
