KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer praises ‘fitter Umesh Yadav’ after win vs PBKS

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer heaped praises on Umesh Yadav after the latter’s four-wicket haul propelled the side to an easy six-wicket win over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Friday.

Yadav (4/23), coming into the season with just two games over two IPL seasons and going unsold in the initial auction rounds, produced career-best T20 figures to help his side dismiss Punjab for 137 in 18.2 overs.

The veteran right-arm seamer also registered an IPL record by becoming the bowler with most wickets against an opponent in IPL. He picked up four wickets on Friday, which took his overall tally to 33 against PBKS in the league. 

The Vidarbha pacer, who has picked 8 wickets in three matches so far, also won the Player of the Match award.

“I was just having a chat with him. He said he’s getting older but I told him he’s getting fitter and stronger. He’s been putting in the hard yards at practice, I see him in the gym every time I go. He’s hungry and wants the team to win. He’s been a great colleague to work with,” Iyer said in the post-match presentation. 

Another KKR player who stood out was Andre Russell, who smashed 70 off 31 balls with two fours and eight sixes.

“We didn’t bat well enough. That’s where it started. We showed some real fight with the ball initially but then Dre Russ came in and got going. Credit to him for that. It was a 170-ish wicket. I thought we started off well but couldn’t capitalise, a few soft dismissals. But a game like this at the start of the tournament is fine. I thought the bowlers pulled the game back really well, to get 4 wickets for 50-odd runs. But Russell took the game away from us. A lot of positives for us to take away,” PBKS skipper Mayank Agarwal said while praising Russel’s sensational knock.