Shreyas Iyer Reveals Why Leading An Underdog Team Is A Motivation

It was in 2018 that Shreyas Iyer that took charge of the team for the first time that struggled under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. The then Delhi, which was named Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals), were on a losing spree and Gambhir passed the torch to Shreyas Iyer. In an interview, the Indian middle-order batsman revealed the motivation behind captaining an underdog team.

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After being handed over the leadership reins, Shreyas Iyer enjoyed a brilliant start as a batsman too. He slammed a whirlwind knock of 93 off 40 balls to lead his team to a much-needed victory. Despite Delhi finishing last that season with five wins from 14 games, the 25-year old received appreciations as a young player. In 2019, Delhi Capitals finished at number four, marking a stunning improvement in performance.

When asked him the stimulus behind leading a struggling team while others have found themselves fortunate enough to lead supreme ones, Shreyas responded by saying he loves challenges. He believes that it is by leading such a team to the top of the tree that captains garner respect and is a huge sense of achievement for oneself too.

“If I was ever given a choice or put in a situation, I would definitely look forward to leading an underdog team because if you can take an underdog team to the title, people look at you differently and you yourself also feel that sense of achievement.” Iyer said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Shreyas Iyer on his first stint as captain:

The Mumbai batsman credited his predecessor, his fellow teammates, and the management for supporting him throughout in his early days as the skipper. In what appeared as a tough job, transpired relatively smoothly for him due to his colleagues and his excellent form with the bat.

“I already had a good chemistry with Gautam bhai, the players and coaching staff and thankfully, I scored a 93 (off 40 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders as DC won the game by 55 runs) in my first game as captain and that changed a lot of thing as people started looking at me with a lot more belief that I would take the team to the next level.” the right-handed batsman added.

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