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'Respect the decision': Shreyas Iyer opens up on Delhi Capitals continuing with Rishabh Pant as captain in IPL 2021
On Wednesday, Iyer and Pant stitched an unbeaten 67-run stand as the duo helped their team to an eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Things could have turned pretty awkward for Delhi Capitals with the return of Shreyas Iyer for the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2021 taking place in the UAE. Iyer, who led DC to the final in the IPL 2020, suffered a shoulder injury in March during the India-England ODI match and was ruled out of the IPL tournament.
But tournament's suspension due to the rising number of Covid cases in May, gave time to Iyer to recuperate from his injuries and he was fit to make a return to the team in September.
Also read: 'Enjoying the way I am batting': Shikhar Dhawan after regaining IPL 2021 Orange Cap
The puzzle for DC to solve was whether to retain Rishabh Pant as captain for the remainder of the season who had taken DC to the top of the pile before the tournament's suspension or to give captaincy back to Iyer. In the end, decision was made to keep Pant as the captain.
On Wednesday, Iyer and Pant stitched an unbeaten 67-run stand as the duo helped their team to an eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. After the match, at the virtual press conference, Iyer was asked about DC's decision to stick with Pant as captain, and he said that he respect the decision made by the franchise.
"When I was given the captaincy, I was in a different frame of mind and my decision-making and temperament level was very good and I benefited from it in the last two years," Iyer said.
"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," he added.
"And no drastic change has come that my focus has increased in batting. when I was captain, I like to soak in the pressure, when there is pressure, there are more challenges and, in such situations, I perform, that is my mind-set.
“Even today (Wednesday) when I went in, there was pressure to win the game. The wicket was playing uneven, so the mind-set is the same that being a main part of the team, you have to finish the match and whenever I play, my mindset is that I play till the last ball and see to it that I make the team win,” he signed off.
