Kolkata Knight Riders' chief mentor David Hussey was generous in his praise of young opener Venkatesh Iyer, comparing him with former New Zealand skipper and current Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming.
Iyer hit his third half-century in the second leg of IPL in the UAE to help KKR beat Delhi Capitals by three wickets in the IPL Qualifier 2 match, to set up the IPL final against CSK on Friday.
"We have found a player in Venkatesh Iyer. Not only he is a classy player but also a wonderful person. He struck the ball superbly from ball one. Some of those big sixes he hit actually changed the tempo of the game and got us into a winning position," said Hussey after the match.
"Our openers complement each other very well. He's just a class player at the top. He is tall, a Stephen Fleming clone, I believe. He's got a big future in the game," he added.
Hussey feels dew will play an important role in Friday's final and KKR need to execute the plans perfectly.
"Dew is going to play an important part in the final. I am hoping groundsmen spray the ground beforehand so that both teams get a fair chance. Its going to be a huge issue during the toss ," said Hussey.
"But if we plan well or execute well hopefully we will get on top. We have a great record to go into the final. It's going to be a great contest playing against CSK in the final," he said.
