Dubai: Shreyas Iyer, who played an instrumental role in Delhi Capitals’ eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday, has praised Rishabh Pant’s captaincy in the IPL 2021 second leg. He asserted that he respects the franchise’s decision to continue with the southpaw as skipper for the rest of the season.
Iyer returned to Delhi Capitals after missing the first half of the tournament owing to a shoulder injury, which kept him away from the action for five and a half months. In Iyer’s absence, Pant led the team in eight matches and won six games to lead the charts.
Iyer made himself available after getting clearance from the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to play IPL. However, Delhi Capitals announced that Pant will remain as the captain for the rest of the season.
“When I was given the captaincy, I was in a different frame of mind. My decision-making and temperament level was very good and I benefited from it in the last two years. This is part of the decision-making from the franchise or whatever decision they took, I respect the fact and Rishabh is leading the side well from the start of the season and they thought that he should be continued till the season end and I completely respect the decision,” Iyer said in a virtual press conference after the match.
The right-handed batsman and Rishabh Pant featured in an unbeaten 67 run-stand for the third wicket against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Iyer smashed 47 off 41 balls, Pant also slammed 35 off 21 balls and helped DC to eased the victory by eight wickets in a chase of 135.
A dominating display with both bat and ball tonight from our boys 🔥#DCvSRH #IPL2021 #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/gpFuNL841D
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) September 22, 2021
Iyer said that he was happy to be back on the field but was not satisfied with his performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad, as his hunger had gone up. “I like soaking in the pressure and I like to perform when there are challenges. It is not like I am focusing a lot on my batting just because I am not the captain. It is a really good feeling, I would not say that I am satisfied, because the hunger has gone up and the appetite keeps on increasing every match you play. So I am not satisfied and content,” he added.
On Wednesday, Iyer once again proved his credentials as he crossed 4000 T20 runs during Delhi Capitals’ (DC) easy win against SRH.
We love you, 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 💙
Congratulations on the mega milestone, @ShreyasIyer15 🤩#YehHaiNayiDilli #IPL2021 #DCvSRH pic.twitter.com/Xi8R7tjcCM
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) September 22, 2021
Talking about his injury that he sustained earlier this year, Iyer said, “When I got injured, it was difficult for me to adapt to this particular fact because I keep on doing so many activities here and there, it was difficult for me to adapt, but close-knit family and friends really kept me busy and they kept me in a positive frame of mind. When the rehab started, and I started gaining strength, that was an amazing feeling and that put me in a really good frame of mind,” he signed off.
