Shreyas Iyer has been the best find for Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015. He has been rock solid at the top of the order, providing DD just the kind of starts they wanted.
Unfortunately, Shreyas has landed up on the losing side most of the time. DD once had a chance of qualifying for the Playoff stages and Shreyas was instrumental in powering them to a number of wins in this tournament.
"We have nothing to lose and there is no pressure. We want to end on a good note. If we win the remaining games, the franchise will be boosted and it will give us hope for the next season," Shreyas told reporters after the match.
He has already amassed 419 runs in 13 games at an average of 34.92 and what is more amazing is his strike rate (129.32). Currently, he occupies the fifth spot in the list of the leading run-scorers in IPL 2015. Surprisingly, only six players players have crossed the 400 mark in this IPL and Shreyas is one among them. The others being David Warner, Ajinkya Rahane, Ab de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Brendon McCullum.
Shreyas scored a gritty 70 from just from 49 balls against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and propelled DD to end an eight match losing streak against CSK.
"I was not thinking about how people would think of me in this IPL. As the tournament progressed, I was getting better. Unfortunately, Delhi Daredevils will not qualify for the play-offs but I want to end the tournament well," Shreyas said at the post-match presentation.
"The Ranji Trophy gave me good confidence. I had not expected to score so many runs in my first Ranji season. I am carrying that confidence into this tournament," added Shreyas.
Shreyas was bought by the Daredevils during the auctions earlier this year. His base price was only ₹10 lakh but in a tug of war over him he finally was roped in by DD at an incredible price of ₹2.6 crore and he definitely is worth every penny that was spent on him.