IPL 2022: KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer praises Jos Buttler, calls him 'classy batsman'

Apr 19, 2022

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 19 : After facing a defeat in a thrilling encounter against Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer praised his rival batter for his second ton of IPL 2022.
Buttler's 103-run knock, his second of the season, and Yuzvendra Chahal's five-wicket haul which also included a hat-trick powered Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling seven-run win against Kolkata Knight Riders here at the Brabourne Stadium.
"I think from the start we got, we really were going well according to the run-rate. Finchy was good but once he was out, we slowed down a bit. We lacked a bit over there, but it's a part of the game. Unfortunately, we couldn't click. My plan was to bat through the end, the opposite batsman had to take it on from ball one. The matchup Rana had was with Chahal. He did not time that and it happens," said Shreyas in a post-match presentation.
"He [Buttler] started a bit slow and after that, he just went off. The way he manoeuvres the ball, he is a classy batsman. Kudos to the way he batted. If we had got him out early, the scoreboard would've looked very different. Dew didn't play a big role tonight. Amazing wicket to bat on. Unfortunately, Brabourne hasn't been great for us," he added.
The match was a cliff-hanger where the pendulum tilted from one team to another as Kolkata Knight Riders were sailing through at one stage reaching the triple-figure mark in just 8.3 overs with Shreyas Iyer and Aaron Finch batting at the crease. But wickets from Chahal, Ashwin and Prasidh Krishna brought Sanju Samson led Rajasthan Royals back in the game.
"Hopefully we will come back hard in the coming games. There is a lot of pressure and I love pressure. I just wanted to set an example, doesn't matter whatever score they get. If they can get it, I can get it as well. That's how I was thinking," said the KKR skipper.