Former Indian cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri believes captaincy comes naturally to the Kolkata Knight Riders’ ‘aggressive’ skipper Shreyas Iyer, adding that the players’ clarity of thought has impressed him a lot.

Iyer was given the responsibility of leading Kolkata in the TATA IPL 2022 season after the franchise acquired his services for a whopping INR 12.25 crores in an intense bidding battle during the IPL Mega Auction earlier this year.

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Having captained Delhi from mid-2018 to the 2020 season, Iyer has had a mixed bag of results as the captain.  Kolkata have won three and lost as many games in the IPL 2022 so far.

Iyer will be getting a chance to get Kolkata’s campaign back on track when they face Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday.

“Captaincy comes naturally to Shreyas (Iyer). Look at his aggressive captaincy, you don’t feel like he’s leading KKR for the first time. Looks like he’s been captaining them for the last 3 to 4 seasons and it is visible through his clarity of thoughts. His mindset is clear about what brand of cricket he needs to play as a batter,” Shastri said on the Cricket Live show on Star Sports.

“At the same time, he’s aware of what he as a captain needs to do to take his team to the playoffs and win the title. I’ve liked the way he’s spoken during the pre and post-match conferences and that shows he’s clear with his plans. I am convinced he’ll go a long way,” Shastri added.

Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop has also backed Iyer to lead Kolkata back to winning ways in the IPL 2022 after the side suffered back-to-back defeats. “I think despite suffering back-to-back defeats, it is possible for Shreyas to regather his troops and bounce back. When he became captain of the Delhi Capitals, he just got them better and better with every season.”

Bishop further felt that Shreyas Iyer will take time to settle in as Kolkata’s skipper but thinks that with the help of the experienced players in the squad like all-rounder Andre Russell and off-spinner Sunil Narine along with head coach Brendon McCullum, he would get going in no time.

“It will take him a little settling period here (at KKR) but he’s got some seasoned campaigners around him. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are experienced players. Coach Brendon McCullum is also very experienced. So I have no doubt that Shreyas will get the guys going.” Shastri further added.

(Inputs from IANS)