Chennai: Kolkata rode high on Sunday (k)night after its third IPL title, which its skipper Shreyas Iyer termed as a cumulative effort and a flawless season that gave the moment to cherish, while lauding losers Sunrisers Hyderabd (SRH) for the way they played throughout in this 17th IPL edition.
Shreyas was also heaped praise on left arm seamer Mitchell Starc, picked up in the auction for a record amount and the Aussie rose to the occasion with commanding show in the last two games.
Starc, who rocked the top order of SRH in the all important summit clash, was declared man of the match for picking up two wickets in his first three overs.
However, he did not bowl thereafter as the other bowlers finished the job in style. Speaking at the presentation ceremony after the team routed SRH restricting them to 113 and overhauling the target in just 10.3 overs winning by eight wickets, Shreyas summed it up saying it was comprehensive.
“It was comprehensive. This is what we demanded from the players and they stood up”, he said, amid jubilations at the dug out, after becoming the eighth captain to win the crown in a surprisngly low-scoring affair.
The bowlers did the job, with SRH losing wickets at regular intervals and their batsmen falling like nine pins. The KKR top order made a mincemeat of the target winning with consummate ease, triggering celebrations at the dug out.
Shreyas said ” It’s difficult to express the feelings. So much to cherish right now”. “Today, we were lucky enough to bowl first. Everything went in our way. Congrats to SRH for the way they played throughout. It was a high-pressure game and Mitchell Starc had been so good off-field”, he said.
“Phenomenal work ethic, something to learn for youngsters”, he added. On the magic of Carribean calypso star Andre Russel, who did the star turn in the middle overs with three quick wickets and often providing breakthroughs when the ball was given to him, Shreyas said “Russell has got a magic wand and he is looking towards me to bowl. In the majority of the games he gave us breakthroughs.”
On leftie Venkatesh Iyer’s blitzkrieg, whose half century helped KKR cross the finishing line in double quick time with a flurry of fours and sixers, the KKR skipper said “Venkatesh
Iyer made things easy for us.”
“As I said earlier, everyone stepped up. There was no one individual who took us here; it was a cumulative effort. It was a flawless season for us”, he added.
