Fresh from his match-winning exploits against table-toppers Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils opener Shreyas Iyer says his Ranji experience acted as a confidence-booster for him in the Indian Premier League.
IPL: Zaheer Khan, Shreyas Iyer help Delhi secure elusive win
Iyer, who plays for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, smashed an unbeaten 70 runs to back up an excellent bowling show by Delhi Daredevils, which earned them a six-wicket victory against Chennai in a low-scoring encounter at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, in Raipur, on Tuesday.
Iyer, who has accumulated 419 runs in 13 matches for Delhi Daredevils, has stood out with his batting talent in Season 8 of the cash-rich league and the youngster credited his Ranji stint for his success in the shorter format.
"I got a lot of confidence playing Ranji Trophy. I had never thought that I will score this much in the first season (of IPL). I am carrying forward that confidence which is helping me very much here," the 20-year-old cricketer said.
"To be honest, I wasn't really thinking about how people will look at me in the IPL season, but, as the tournament progressed and I went good, I realised I should continue till the end. Unfortunately, we have not qualified, so I had decided to finish it off well. I don't think much about the future, just stick to the present," he added.
The Mumbai-based right-hand batsman said his team focused on the basics in Tuesday's match against Chennai and didn't try to put in an extra effort.
"I believe, we focused much on the process and didn't try to do extra. We stuck to the basics and, eventually, batting, bowling went well and even the fielding was good. So we deserved victory," he said.
He added that his team was not under pressure against the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side, and after failing to make the play-offs they just wanted to finish on a high.
"Two matches are left for us in the tournament. If we would win those two, we'll feel good and the franchise will also feel nice. Besides, it will also boost the morale of the team for next year," he said.
On sharing the dressing room with senior players, Iyer said, "It's a great learning experience to be with the seniors. I was on the wicket with Yuvi Paji (Yuvraj Singh), he gave me good tips...He told me to take match till the end. Zaheer Paji (Zaheer Khan) and JP (Jean-Paul Duminy) also give good advice."
Meanwhile, Chennai coach Stephen Fleming appreciated the bowling performance of Delhi Daredevils, saying the opposition restricted them to a low score, which set the stage for Delhi's win.
"We just couldn't get any momentum; could be they (Delhi Daredevils) bowled very well... The first six overs (are) very significant for the match. Six overs for 16 (runs) is very unusual for the side (Chennai) and then it was a catch-up game after that. I just felt today they bowled very well. Their performance with the ball was exceptional. Zaheer Khan was outstanding," Fleming said.
Fleming denied that the decision to bat after winning the toss went wrong for his side.
"As we mentioned earlier that for certain reasons we couldn't really get the momentum. Wickets were falling. When that happens it's very hard to generate any run-rate. Not the start we got, we needed to be going a lot faster and a lot harder than we did. So, probably, scoring 135-140 runs could have got us in the game, but we fell short of 10-15 runs."
