Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Shreyas Iyer said that his team will play 'freely' against Mumbai Indians (MI) after DC beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to reach the final of IPL 2020.
Delhi, who upstaged Hyderabad by 17 runs in the Qualifier 2, will be playing the IPL final for a maiden time, against four-time champion Mumbai.
"Best feeling ever and the journey has been a rollercoaster. End of the day we stuck together as a family. Very happy with the effort every individual has put in. The emotions keep going high and low, so you can't have a same set of routines. Have to keep chopping and changing. Hoping that in the next game as well, against MI the biggest team, we're able to play freely," Iyer said.
In a must-win encounter, Delhi dropped Prithvi Shaw and promoted Marcus Stoinis to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan. And the move worked wonders as Stoins and Dhawan gave Delhi a flying start.
"Needed a rocket start. We thought if he (Stoinis) goes and plays maximum deliveries he can give us a good start," Iyer said.
It was a brilliant outing for Stoinis who fired with both bat and ball (38 off 27 | 3/26) and helped Delhi set a date with Mumbai.
"Have done it in the BBL for a couple of seasons (opening the batting) so it was nice to get an opportunity. 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. 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," Stoinis, who won the Man of the Match said.
The all-rounder further said that Mumbai who is in great form, might have an 'off game.'
"MI are a very good team. Have played consistently. But they're due an off game. Our best cricket should be good enough to win. 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," Stoinis said.
Losing skipper David Warner singled Tamil Nadu pacer, T. Natarajan, as the find of the IPL and heaped praise on his team, who made a tremendous comeback.
"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. Natarajan is a find of this IPL, and he's been outstanding. Rashid has been amazing, and so has been Manish Pandey at No. 3. From an all-round perspective, it's been great. I'd like to thank all our supporters at home. The main thing is the attitude in the field. You can't win if you don't take catches, we'll have to do much better next time - that's what's let us down in this tournament - the attitude on the field," Warner said.
The Australian lamented the fact that the team lost Wriddhiman Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, owing to injuries.
"Losing key players like Saha and Bhuvi has been difficult, but the rest of them have been excellent in their roles to get us where we have gotten today. The fans are so loyal, I saw that photo of a bridge being lit up today. Hyderabad is our second home, and the franchise owners are like a family. Hopefully, after this we can go and play the IPL in India next year and put up a better show," he added.
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