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Shreyas Iyer returns with a bang; content with Delhi Capitals decision to retain Rishabh Pant as captain

Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 47 in Delhi Capitals' eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2021 match but he wants more with the bat in the coming matches.

Shreyas Iyer

Dubai, September 23: Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 47 in Delhi Capitals' eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2021 match and it was a reasonable effort considering it was the middle-order batsmen's first outing in the league in this edition.

Shreyas had missed the first part of the IPL 2021 with a shoulder injury. But Shreyas said he was not really satisfied with his effort and wants to score more runs in the coming matches. Shreyas and Rishabh Pant played unbeaten knocks of 47 and 35 respectively as Delhi Capitals chased down the target of 135 with eight wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare.

With this win, the Capitals rose to the top spot in the IPL 2021 standings with 14 points. ''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," said Iyer during a virtual press conference.

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 closeknit 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 added.

Earlier this year, Delhi had named Rishabh as their captain for the IPL 2021 season as Shreyas was ruled out of the first half of the tournament. The franchise retained Pant as captain even when Shreyas came back into the setup for the second half in the UAE.

"When I got the captaincy of Delhi Capitals, it benefitted me a lot as my temperament got better. But obviously, this is part of the decision making and I respect the franchise's decision. Rishabh Pant is leading really well since the start of the season and I respect the decision to continue with him.

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," said Iyer.

Later, Shreyas took to Twitter to express his happiness over coming back to the side. "Happy to be back out there! Great team effort today, onwards and upwards," he tweeted.

Shreyas Shikhar Dhawan played innings of 47 and 42 respectively to take Delhi Capitals home with a victory. DC captain Rishabh also played a crucial quickfire inning of 35 in 21 balls. For SRH, Khaleel Ahmed and Rashid Khan scalped one wicket each.

And the defeat here means SRH hopes of the playoff are now almost dusted as they stay at bottom of the table with one win from eight games.

Chasing a modest target of 134, DC enjoyed a good start as they lost just one wicket in the powerplay and scored 39 runs. Khaleel got the wicket of Prithvi Shaw 11 in the third over after Williamson took a brilliant catch.

Shreyas and Shikhar Dhawan continued with their aggressive batting in the following overs. The duo completed a fine half-century partnership between them as Delhi moved to 70/1.

Soon, Rashid Khan did the trick for SRH in the 11th over as the Afghan bowler removed dangerous-looking Shikhar Dhawan (42).

DC captain Rishabh Pant joined Iyer on the pitch and wasted no time in showing his aggressive intent as the duo continued chipping boundaries whenever they get the chance.

DC former captain and the incumbent one combined to add 67, as Capitals easily chased the target in the 17.5 overs.

Earlier, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada starred with the ball as Delhi Capitals restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to 134/9.

Anrich Nortje (2-12), Kagiso Rabada (3-37), and Axar Patel (2-21) bamboozled the opposition with their pace, accuracy and length. For, SRH Abdul Samad and Rashid Khan played innings of 28 and 22 respectively.

Opting to bat first, SRH had a shaky start when their star overseas opener David Warner walked back to the pavilion in the very first over of the innings.

The South African speedster ousted Warner on pace and the Australian got out for a threeball duck. SRH captain Kane Williamson, and Wriddhiman Saha managed to gain momentum in the match but opposition bowlers gave them no respite.

With continuous pressure on one end, Saha took his chances against Kagiso Rabada and welcomed the South African bowler with a six in the fifth over.

But SA bowler had the last laugh as Saha went back to the dressing room after got beaten for pace with the short ball. After the first powerplay, SRH were 32/2. In the 9th over of the innings, Marcus Stoinis walked off the field after getting injured.

In the very next over SRH captain Williamson got caught by Hetmyer off Axar Patel bowling after getting lucky two times in the match. Manish Pandey soon followed his captain to the pavilion in the next over after Rabada got him caught and bowled.

With runs in scarcity for the team in orange, the wickets continued falling as Nortje trapped Kedar Jadhav for LBW in the 13th over. Axar Patel got Jason Holder (10) in the 16th over. Kagiso Rabada removed dangerous-looking Abdul Samad (28) in the 19th over but conceded 14 runs.

Rashid Khan (22) played an important cameo for SRH before getting run out in the last over of the innings. Sandeep Sharma (0) got run out in the last ball of the innings.

Story first published: Thursday, September 23, 2021, 9:29 [IST]
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