MI vs KKR: Shreyas Iyer namedrops Manish Pandey as he hails Impact Player rule amid heavy criticism

Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were seen in action against the Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 51st match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Friday, May 3, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Kolkata Knight Riders entered the match against Mumbai Indians with an awful head-to-head record as in the previous 32 matches played between the teams, it was the Mumbai-based franchise that emerged victorious on most of the outings.

The head-to-head record between the teams in the matches played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) stood in the favour of Mumbai Indians at 23-9. The record looked even more dominant at the Wankhede Stadium as the Mumbai Indians had won 9 matches and Kolkata Knight Riders had just bagged one victory. In all these years at the IPL, KKR beat MI at the Wankhede Stadium only in 2012, and in that match, Sunil Narine had won the Player of the Match for his stunning bowling figures of 4 for 15.

Just having a conversation with Starcy. Told him how important this game for us - Shreyas Iyer

Coming back to the IPL 2024 match between the teams, KKR were invited to bat first and they did a poor job. KKR lost 5 wickets for 57 runs and after that, Venkatesh Iyer helped the side make a comeback with a 70-run knock. Manish Pandey also chipped in with 42 runs as KKR posted 169 runs on the board.

Defending the target, the KKR bowlers showed their class and bundled out MI for 145. Mitchell Starc picked up 4 wickets while Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell bagged two wickets each. Now after the conclusion of the match between the teams, the head-to-head record stands at MI 23 - KKR 10.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer highlighted the importance of the victory over MI and said:

"Just having a conversation with Starcy. Told him how important this game for us. If we lost this, would've had to win two out of four. Would take this any day. Beautiful victory for us. Hope we could've cherished this one. But we have a match day after as well."

Shreyas Iyer, unlike many others, finds the impact player rule helpful and he stated that the rule helped them get Manish Pandey in the XI who helped the side reach a good score. Iyer said:

"Certainly, with this impact player rule, it has helped us in this game. Manish has been eyeing an opportunity from Day 1. Today he got it. We got to a commendable total."

Shreyas Iyer further showered rich praise on spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine as well as batter Venkatesh Iyer. Shreyas Iyer said:

"All I had to say to the boys was we can defend it with our bowling lineup. They were unreal to be honest (on the two spinners). Absolutely spot on in terms of execution with line and lengths. He's been eagerly waiting to go out and express himself in earlier games as well (on Venkatesh Iyer)."