Having played a pivotal role in Delhi Daredevils' thumping win against Mumbai Indians, young opener Shreyas Iyer credited the team's assistant coach Praveen Amre for his new-found success in the Indian Premier League.
Iyer top-scored with a 56-ball 83, his innings laced with 7 fours and 5 sixes, to help DD put up an imposing total of 190 for four in 20 overs after being put into bat first. After a successful Ranji season with Mumbai, Iyer has accumulated 227 runs in six outings for DD in the cash-rich league. The 20-year-old was all praise for Amre, who is also the coach of Mumbai in Ranji Trophy.
"A lot of credit goes to him (Praveen Amre) because he really works hard on me before the game and we practice good technique and skills. Yesterday also we worked on my skills," said Iyer after DD's 37-run win at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Iyer's 154-run second wicket stand with skipper Jean-Paul Duminy did the trick for DD after they lost an early wicket. The right-handed batsman enjoyed his stay with the South African veteran at the crease.
"He was just like, back yourself by taking charge of the bowling. If you have an experienced batsman at the other end, it is really good. We had decided that we should bat till the 15th over. We were sure that if we bat till the 15th over we could put up a good score on the board.
"He kept on rotating the strike, Even I wasn't getting the runs at certain moments and he took the charge at that time and I rotated the strike. So it was really nice to bat with each other," Iyer said.
The Mumbai-born player relished the challenged of playing against his home-based IPL side but was disappointed to miss out on a century.
"I was really excited to play against Mumbai Indians… home team… definitely happy to score against them. They have a good bowling attack and to score against them is a great feelings" he said.
"I was quite disappointed that I didn't get to my hundred but also happy with the fact that my team won. I gave the team a good start and we gave a defendable total, which was good. I was satisfied after I got the team to a good par score and the main thing for me is the win," he added.
DD not only won their third IPL games in six outings but also snapped their 9-match losing streak at Kotla, which had started in 2013 season. Iyer was just too happy to break the home jinx.
"The team was really positive and were definitely going for a win. I am really happy that we broke the jinx, finally," said Iyer.
If the batsman set up the win for DD, then champion leg-spinner Imran Tahir finally made it happen -- restricted MI to just 153/9 in their 191-run chase -- with excellent figures of 3-22. The South African has bagged 13 wickets in 6 matches and has the purple cap on his head. Iyer was all praise for his senior colleague.
"Imran Tahir is a powerhouse. You must have got to know by his celebration. No one can catch him once he gets a wicket. He is a really good person and good to be around him," he said.
The DD fielding was also top class with Duminy leading by example with a superb running catch to dismiss opener Lendl Simmons. Tahir and Shahbaz Nadeem also took sharp outfield catches and Iyer credited it to the side's excellent work ethic.
"Before very match we have a good fielding session. And yesterday we gelled well as a team in the training session. And we were all together on the ground during our fielding session and it was good," he said.
The youngster though is not thinking too far about his future and is just taking it one game at a time.
"It's really enjoyable to play on the ground as an opener. I don't really pay much attention on the future. Just like to stay in the present," he smiled.
