Shreyas Iyer Shreyas Iyer reflected on Delhi Capitals’ run to the IPL playoffs as a “dream season” and one he expects his team to build on next year. Capitals, who until last season played as Delhi Daredevils, had finished last on the table with only five wins. This season, apart from changes in the name, the ownership, and the addition of Sourav Ganguly to the management, Capitals managed to take 18 points, just as many as finalists Mumbai Indian and Chennai Super Kings managed. On Friday, the Delhi franchise were on the cusp of their first ever IPL final, but fell short to a vastly experienced Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier.
“It’s been a dream season for us and it’s just the start,” Iyer told the host broadcaster after the match. “We’ve got a lot more to come next season and yes, we have gelled as a team and we’ve found the pace and now it’s time to grow from here on. I am really of proud the way [Capitals] played this season. Last season was really disappointing for us and the way we came out this year, everybody took that initiative and responsibility till this game.”
Capitals needed to pull off their third consecutive win in seven days to make the final, but couldn’t respond adequately as Super Kings put a young team under pressure multiple times in the hunt for qualification to an eighth final. Capitals were restricted to 147 and Iyer said after the presentation that their plans weren’t up to scratch.
“At the end of the day, it’s a T20 game,” he said. “You can’t restrict your strokes. We back our instincts as players. The way we got starts, we needed someone to take on that charge and start hitting boundaries and sixes so that we can get on top of their bowlers. If we would have just played, you know, on the situation, they would have got on top of us.
“Chennai have got experienced players in their side. They have been playing for many years. They knew how the wicket played in the second innings. Also, they made a good decision fielding first. As I said, we were a little bit bad in planning out the innings. We should have been little responsible and taken the team through to the last few overs and set it for the hard-hitters at the end.”
Capitals promoted Colin Munro up to No. 3 in the second qualifier after the batsman had struggled to start against spin in the eliminator on Wednesday. On of the reasons for this, Iyer said, was a gamble on Super Kings bowling an extra over of Shardul Thakur. This didn’t materialise and the resultant shift in batting order meant a reasonably successful top four was disrupted. Iyer himself dropped to 4, with Rishabh Pant going down to 5, and was dismissed trying to slug Imran Tahir over midwicket.
“I thought that if I play few balls and take time, it doesn’t matter because I can capitalize late on. And I have done that in the past. I was taking my time and I thought Imran’s over was to go for. It was right in the slot but I just mistimed it and we started losing wicket from there again. So it was a miscalculation which happened and it was a bad day for us,” he said.
At 24, this was Iyer’s second full season as captain of a team that currently has 14 of their 24 players under the age of 26. Iyer said the presence of Ricky Ponting alongside him for a second straight season, and the subsequent addition of Ganguly to the leadership has done wonders for the team.
“Oh I have learnt a lot. Lot of positives to talk about,” he said. “Right from the Mumbai game, Rishabh started with that amazing knock. After that, we could see every individual taking that responsibility and winning us the game.
“[Ponting]’s definitely a legend. Whenever he talks in the dressing room, no one has to talk after that. Because if someone does that, it’s of no use. The way he talks, it’s just like a song or a rap. He’s got that flow and he’s been doing it for 20 years. As youngsters, we are really happy and lucky to have him as our coach. The positiveness that he spreads, the freedom that he gives to every player is something out of the box. That’s what we need as youngsters. We need someone to support us and back us. That’s what we get from Ricky.”
What Capitals have also got from Ponting this season is a public bashing of the pitch in their home ground, Feroz Shah Kotla, which Ponting called “by far and away the worst” after a defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Capitals lost three of their seven home games on a surface that didn’t suit their free-flowing batsmen, a ratio which, in hindsight, could have given them the luxury of a chance of going straight to the final via the first qualified. Iyer said it was something to think about before they head into the next season.
“It’s something to think about, the home games especially we didn’t win that many matches,” Iyer said. “But can’t really complain about the wickets. We have played a lot of our games on slow wickets, we’ve been practicing a lot, even the wickets we practice on in Delhi aren’t that safe for the batsmen because they have uneven bounce.”