IPL 2021: Injured Shreyas Iyer drops an emotional message for Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals (DC) suffered a big blow before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season when their skipper Shreyas Iyer injured himself fielding in the ODI series against England at home. Iyer subluxated (partially dislocated) his shoulder and underwent surgery as he was ruled out of IPL’s 14th season. In his absence, Rishabh Pant has been selected to lead the side. Ahead of Pant’s captaincy debut against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Iyer has an emotional message for his teammates.

“Dear Delhi, I speak to you today as a fellow fan of the team we love. We fight the same fight we always did. We know it won’t be easy but we know we have got what it takes to raise the cup. We have worked hard, harder than before. We have put in the yards harder than before and the best part is we go beyond than just a team,” Iyer said in a video posted on Twitter on the game day.

Dear Dilli 💙 @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/nM8EnLTlZ1

— Shreyas Iyer (@ShreyasIyer15) April 10, 2021

Iyer was selected to replace Gautam Gambhir as DC’s captain midway through IPL 2018. The team finished last on the points table in the season but showed a few good performances in the latter stages of the tournament.

In 2019, under Iyer’s captaincy, DC managed to reach their first playoffs after 2012. They won the eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) but were knocked out by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the second qualifier. Next season, DC made history as they managed to reach their first-ever final of the tournament. However, they were comprehensively beaten by Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI) in the final.

Iyer has proved his worth with the bat as well amassing 1,393 runs in the previous three seasons. Last season, he was DC’s second-highest run-scorer with 519 runs from 17 games at an average of 34.60. He scored three half-centuries in the season including an unbeaten 88.