Chris Lynn: “I’d love to, I’d jump at the opportunity”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Australia batsman Chris Lynn has admitted that he would “jump at the opportunity” if he was given the chance to captain the Kolkata Knight Riders in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Knight Riders are on the hunt for a new skipper after regular captain Gautam Gambhir was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for INR 2.8 crores at the IPL auction last month.
With the tournament scheduled to get underway on April 7, Knight Riders coach Jacques Kallis last week revealed that Lynn was “one of the candidates” being considered to succeed Gambhir.
When asked about potentially captaining the IPL franchise, Lynn was quoted by cricket.com.au as saying: “I’d love to, I’d jump at the opportunity. We’ve got a really good group at Kolkata. The coaching staff, Simon Katich, Jacques Kallis, Heath Streak … I can relate (easily to) them.
“But there’s a couple of boys that have been in the IPL for 10 years so you can’t ignore their experience, especially in their own backyard.
“I’m still learning the game over there but if given the nod then I’d jump at the chance.”
Lynn played for the Knight Riders last year, but had an injury-affected season, which led to him featuring in just sven matches. However, he did exceptionally well when he did play as he scored 295 runs, which included three half-centuries, at an average of 49.16 and a strike-rate of 180.98.
Lynn was not retained by the franchise prior to the IPL auction, but admitted that he was stunned upon finding out that he was sold back to them for INR 9.6 crores.
With a massive price tag next to his name, the 27-year-old admitted that there will be pressure on him to live up to expectations.
“I was actually padding up before the last Big Bash game and ‘Hopesy’ (Heat assistant coach James Hopes) had his phone out,” Lynn recalled. “Brendon McCullum came out … You sort of pause for five minutes. The heart rate went up a few beats but it’s pretty cool seeing that.
“I’ve got to put the runs on the board because there is that added pressure now with that price that comes with it.”