IPL 2018: ‘It wasn’t my decision to drop Gambhir’ – Shreyas Iyer

Delhi Daredevils skipper Shreyas Iyer said that it was the former captain Gautam Gambhir’s decision to sit out of the match against Kolkata Knight Rider.

“I didn’t make any call to be honest,” Iyer said. “It wasn’t my decision to drop him. He himself decided to sit out, which was really courageous decision with him being the captain in the previous matches. The respect for him has gone really high. It’s really [good to] see when a captain, if he’s not playing well, he backs out. Colin [Munro] came in and gave us the desired start.”

Shreyas Iyer scored a stunning 93 off 40 balls to take Delhi to its second victory of the season. It was his first game as a captain, taking over from Gambhir and certainly a night to remember for Iyer.

When enquired about what made the difference this time around, Iyer stated that it was the fact that his team was able to get off to a good start.

“It’s just that we got a good start. Everyone was aware of what they had to do and contributed really well. It was a team effort. It wasn’t an individual game. Everyone stepped up to the mark and started taking responsibility,” he said.

Gambhir’s replacement, Colin Munro was able to give Delhi a good start scoring an 18 ball 33. This resulted in Delhi’s highest opening stand in the 2018 season of 59 runs.

The win against KKR puts Delhi 7th in the points table with 2 wins out of 5. With 7 matches to go, it is anyone’s guess if the rejuvenated Delhi side will be able to come back in the tournament.

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Captain or not, Delhi will look up to Gautam Gambhir to fire and regain his lost form. His presence becomes utmost important in the team, since Delhi Daredevils has a lot of young talent like Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer who can learn a lot from Gautam Gambhir.

Daredevils next play the Chennai Super Kings on Monday.