Due to a shoulder injury, Shreyas Iyer was not a part of the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the first phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, forcing the team owners to choose Rishabh Pant as their captain.
There were questions over whether Iyer would lead the DC in the second phase of this year's IPL because he had led the team for the previous two seasons. Pant, on the other hand, has been retained as captain for the remainder of the IPL 2021 season after a fair performance in the first phase.
Iyer broke his silence on the matter when the second phase for DC commenced with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) clash.
“When I got the captaincy, I was in a different frame of mind. My decision-making and temperament level was really good. It helped in the last two years. But obviously, this is part of the decision-making from the franchise. I respect the decision they have made to continue with him (Pant) as captain,” said Iyer in the press conference after the match.
Iyer had the full backing of his friend; in fact, he admired Rishabh's handling of DC's affairs.
“As for Rishabh Pant, he is leading really well from the start of the season. That’s why the decision-makers took the call to let him continue till the end of the season. I completely respect it. There is no drastic change as such and it isn’t like I am focusing even more than before on my batting. As captain, I like to soak in the pressure. With pressure comes challenges, and my mindset is such that I perform well in pressure situations," he said while uploading Pant.
In the very first match of his return, Iyer played a gutsy unbeaten knock of 47 against SRH. He shared an unbeaten 67-run partnership with current skipper (35 not out) to help DC achieving a comfortable win by 8 wickets over SRH last night.
