Venkatesh Iyer’s knock signifies brand of cricket KKR want to play in IPL: skipper Eoin Morgan

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan heaped praise on debutant Venkatesh Iyer, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarty and star all-rounder Andre Russell after KKR led the Royal Challengers in Bangalore to record a convincing nine-wicket victory in the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Varun, Lockie Ferguson and Russell produced a stellar performance with the ball for KKR to bundle out Royal Challengers Bangalore for a paltry 92. Then, the opening duo of Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer played some breathtaking shots and made light work of the chase of 93, completing the formality with as many as 10 overs to spare.

Morgan said that Venkatesh Iyer’s knock signified the brand of cricket KKR wants to play in upcoming matches of IPL 2021.

“Venkatesh Iyer, the way he came in and played was outstanding. Certainly, the brand of cricket we want to play. Playing under head coach Brendon McCullum, this is the aggressive nature of cricket we want to play. Although he was aggressive, he managed to control his innings. His opening partnership with Shubman Gill was beautiful to watch,” Morgan said during a virtual post-match press conference.

Varun had an unbelievable day: Morgan

Opening the bowling, architect-turned-mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy (3/13) did the star turn with three wickets in an excellent four-over spell.

“Yeah, I think the match-ups with Andre Russell really worked. The pitch the way it played throughout the whole innings was more seamer-friendly even though Varun had an unbelievable day. I thought the pitch assisted the seamers with big size boundaries,” Morgan added.

“Yeah, there is no doubt that it will be a challenge from here onwards, but our main aim is to turn up and play cricket as we did with RCB. If we do that, then we give ourselves the best chance of progressing to the playoffs,” Morgan further said.