“He will be fired up” - Sunil Gavaskar on Shreyas Iyer playing against KKR in Kolkata

Former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has opened up on Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer playing against his former team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, April 26.

While Iyer propelled the Knight Riders to a title win, he was later released before the IPL 2025 auction. Though KKR went ahead with bids, PBKS bought him finally for INR 26.75 crores to secure his services for the IPL 2025 season.

Gavaskar feels Iyer will be fired up to play against the Knight Riders. Moreover, he asserted that Iyer has a point to prove against the KKR franchise in the upcoming contest on Saturday.

"He will be fired up. And if he had been, you know, I've been out of form, if they had not done well, then one could understand. But the captain of a winning team not being retained will hurt. No question about it, that will hurt. Now he's got, he went for much, much more to PBKS, which is fine. That would have given him a little bit of consolation, but nobody wants to be left out, and that is the thing. So clearly, I think he will have a point to prove. Or maybe half a dozen points to prove," said Gavaskar.

Later, the former Australian captain also asserted that KKR wouldn’t be affected by their recent loss to KKR in Mullanpur. Moreover, he expects the match in Kolkata to be an exciting clash.

"No, I don't think they will. I think that game will be left in the memory for KKR and they won't want to talk about it ever again, but I think it's gonna be a beauty. Let's see what sort of pitch we get. I think both teams really need to win,” Clarke said.

"KKR is underperforming with their team. They've got enough senior players, they've got enough experience. They're just a little bit like SRH. Those two this season haven't been great, and they still have a chance they can turn things around. I think KKR's one of those teams like Mumbai. If they get a roll on, they're so destructive," Clarke concluded.

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