Shane Watson's 'telltale sign' on Shreyas Iyer leading KKR from the front in IPL 2024: ‘You are not suffocating players’

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As Mitchell Starc lived up to his billing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 playoffs, skipper Shreyas Iyer aced the chase for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday. The former champions romped past Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 of the cash-rich league. With Shreyas at the helm, the Knight Riders became the first team to enter the final of the cash-rich league this season.

Under Shreyas' leadership, the two-time champions picked 20 points in the league stage to top the IPL 2024 standings. Iyer will be contesting his second final as captain in the IPL. The Mumbai batter guided Delhi Capitals to their first-ever IPL final in the 2020 edition of the cash-rich league.

Talking about Iyer's leadership at KKR, former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson lauded the star batter for putting up a dominant performance at the IPL 2024 playoffs. Leading from the front, Iyer remained unbeaten on 58 off 24 balls as KKR thrashed SRH by eight wickets in the Qualifier 1.

‘Shreyas Iyer is getting the best of the people around him’

"He played a crucial innings. He has batted nicely throughout this IPL but to be able to put up a dominant display like he did, 58 runs, it is a very impressive time as well, to know you are hitting the ball incredibly well. As a leader, he has had a lot of success. This means he is getting the best of the people around him," Watson told JioCinema.

Skipper Iyer has amassed 345 runs in 13 innings this season. The KKR skipper averages 38.33, and the premier batter has a strike rate of 146.18. Iyer batted a strike rate of 241.67 against SRH as the KKR skipper top-scored for his side in their comfortable win at the IPL 2024 playoffs.

'You are not suffocating players…'

"It is not just him doing his thing, he is performing well, the team and players around him are doing very well, which is a telltale sign that you as a leader are doing a very good job. You are not suffocating players around you by putting too much pressure on them, you are allowing people to have the freedom to play their best and tonight, they were all really good," Watson added.