Shreyas Iyer, Delhi Capitals said that the new players who have joined the franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 Auction bring a lot of experience to the squad.
The runners-up of the previous IPL season at UAE acquired the services of experienced players such as Steve Smith and Tom Curran along with four talented domestic players in Lukman Meriwala, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, and Manimaran Siddharth.
Shreyas Iyer: Great Experience For Youngsters Who Have Come In
Delhi Capitals’ overseas Proteas pacers – Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje – were the stars in IPL 2020. While Kagiso Rabada was among the top wicket-takers of the tournament, Anrich Nortje bowled fast and troubled top-order players.
“We had maintained our core unit from the last season and the new players that have come in bring a lot of experience to the squad. Along with international players such as Steve Smith and Tom Curran coming in, we have a few domestic players who have joined the squad as well. Lukman Meriwala has done tremendously well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. It’s going to be a great experience for the other youngsters, who have come in,” Iyer said in a statement issued by the franchise.
Even though the Delhi Capitals have covered all their bases, the Skipper stressed the fact that the IPL 2021 will be testing for his side, “It’s going to be challenging because if you look at the other teams, they have also framed their teams in a pretty unique way and obviously the core and strength have been pretty much similar for all the teams. The IPL can surprise you at any point in time and I feel this season is going to be more exciting.”
Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav (Rs 1 crore), Ripal Patel (Rs 20 lakh), Vishnu Vinod (Rs 20 lakh), Manimaran Siddharth (Rs 20 lakh), Lukman Meriwala (Rs 20 lakh) were some of the players added to their squad and the latest acquisitions will boost the team. Steve Smith was bought by the Delhi-based franchise for Rs 2.2 crore, while experienced T20 players Tom Curran and Sam Billings were bought for Rs 5.25 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively.
Shreyas Iyer: Phenomenal To See Support Of Delhi Capitals Fans Last Season
The middle-order batsman and skipper added that the Delhi Capitals will look to follow their processes and not complicate anything.
“We need to keep things simple and focus on our processes, which we have been following in the last two seasons. We need to stick to the same routine and not complicate things. We need to see to it that we stick to the basics and get the best out of ourselves,” said Iyer.
In spite of the IPL 2020 being held behind closed doors at UAE, the skipper said that the Delhi Capitals side could still get a sense of the support shown by their fans.
“It was phenomenal to see their support last season and obviously, we love the energy from the fans even though we didn’t get to see them on the field. I would love to see them on the field if things open up in the coming IPL. I would just like to tell the fans that keep supporting us, keep loving us and we are just looking forward to getting you the trophy this season and we all could celebrate the victory together,” signed off Iyer.
Delhi Capitals consists of the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Chris Woakes along with skipper Shreyas Iyer.
Mumbai was without India batsman Shreyas Iyer, who suffered a shoulder injury during the recently concluded Australia tour, for the league stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, which kicked off a severely curtailed season from January 10.
Shreyas Iyer played 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is in Australia where his highest score was only 38. Shreyas Iyer will captain Mumbai in the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy-the 50 overs competition and the squad includes batsmen Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal among others.