'End of the day, we stuck together as a family. Very happy with the effort every individual has put in.'
Sealing a place in the Indian Premier League final is the "best feeling ever" for Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer. Now, he wants his team to play freely against defending champions Mumbai Indians in Tuesday’s title clash in Dubai.
Delhi Capitals beat SunRisers Hyderabad by 17 runs in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to enter the final.
"(It's the) Best feeling ever. Journey has been a roller-coaster. The emotions keep going high and low, so you can't have a same set of routines. Have to keep chopping and changing," Iyer said, at the post-match presentation.
"Hoping that in the next game as well, against Mumbai Indians, the biggest team, we're able to play freely."
Iyer said it was a collective effort that carried the team through.
"End of the day, we stuck together as a family. Very happy with the effort every individual has put in. But have been getting support from coaches and support staff. On top of that the team has been so special. Really fortunate to have such an amazing team," Iyer said.
Talking about the Sunday's match, Iyer said, "We were going at 10 runs an over, but we know Rashid (Khan) can be lethal in the middle. The plan was to not give him wickets.
"We were lacking with the opening partnership, so needed a rocket start. We thought if (Shikhar) Dhawan goes and plays maximum deliveries he can give us a good start."
SunRisers captain David Warner said he was proud of his team despite failing to make it to the final.
"First and foremost, no one gave us a chance at the start. Mumbai has a great team, Delhi as well, and RCB, but I'm proud to be where we are today.
"(Thangarasu) Natarajan is a find of this IPL, and he's been outstanding. Rashid has been amazing, and so has Manish Pandey at No. 3. From an all-round perspective, it's been great. I'd like to thank all our supporters at home."
Warner, however, admitted that fielding let his team down in the tournament.
"The main thing is attitude in the field. You can't win if you don't take catches; so we'll have to do much better next time. That's what's let us down in this tournament - the attitude on the field," said the explosive opener from Australia.
Asked about the impact of the injuries to key players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Wriddhiman Saha, he said, "It has been difficult, but the rest of the players have been excellent in their roles to get us where we have gotten today."
Man-of-the match Marcus Stoinis, for his 38 with the bat and 3/26 with the ball, said he is excited to be featuring in the maiden IPL final.
"Have played quite a bit of IPL, but this is my first final. It's been hard with quarantine, but a bit of silverware is good motivation," he said.
"Mumbai Indians are a very good team. Have played consistently. But they're due for an off game. Our best cricket should be good enough to win."
Asked about opening the Delhi Capitals innings, he said, "I have done it in the Big Bash League for a couple of seasons and it was nice to get an opportunity in the IPL."
About his bowling, he said, "Never know what it's going to be like early. There was swing early on. So had a bit of a look at it before having a crack. Was a really nice wicket.
"My thought process was to change my grips and see what I was getting out of the wicket and change my tactics with wide yorkers and slower balls."
