Delhi Capitals continued to make giant strides towards fulfilling their dreams of lifting the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, but not just yet as Mumbai Indians proved too good for the young team led by Shreyas Iyer. After losing the 2020 final by five wickets in Dubai, UAE on Tuesday, Iyer admitted that "winning the IPL would have been better," but promised to win it next year.
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After making the playoffs last season, the Delhi-based franchise played their maiden IPL final. But they were overwhelmed by the eventual champions Mumbai in the final. After the match, Iyer told official broadcasters, "winning the IPL would have been better, but we will see to it that we lift the trophy next year. I would like to thank our fans, and we're thankful for all the support that has been showered on us throughout the season."
It indeed was one chastening experience for Delhi. Despite finishing the IPL 2020 points table second, they lost all their four meetings with Rohit Sharma's marauding Mumbai. After suffering a 57-run defeat in the first Qualifier, they managed to beat a confident Sunrisers Hyderbad side in the Eliminator and set up a final date with the most successful team.
But the skipper hailed his team and the support staff, including head coach Ricky Ponting for their collective effort. "Ricky, the amount of freedom he gives us is outstanding. The way he motivates players is simply amazing. His team meetings and motivational speeches it quite incredible," Iyer said.
Iyer, 25, played a captain's knock after the team lost three inside the fourth over. He scored an unbeaten 65 off 50 balls, and with Rishabh Pant (56 off 38) helped Delhi post a fighting total of 156/7. But it proved too little against a batting line-up which has the likes of Rohit, Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, etc.
And he rightly conceded that it was an overwhelming experience, even to compete in the final of the world's toughest T20 cricket league.
"The IPL always amazes you, it's one of the toughest leagues to play. I'm overwhelmed to be part of it, and I'm really proud of my boys, the way they have played to reach the final, it's not easy," he added.
