IPL 2021 | Shreyas Iyer will continue to captain Delhi Capitals despite Smith’s arrival, confirms club CEO

Shreyas Iyer took over as the captain of Delhi Capitals mid-way through the 2018 season post the resignation of Gautam Gambhir, and, since then, the franchise has been on a steady rise. In the 2019 season, Delhi reached the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons while last season, the club finished in the Top 2 in the group stages and reached the final of the competition for the first time in its history. Iyer, who also captains his state side Mumbai, has thrived as a leader and has brought identity to a franchise that spent no less than a decade in the wilderness.

Pleased with how the 26-year-old has led the franchise, Delhi Capitals CEO Col. Vinod Bisht confirmed that, despite the presence of several other senior cricketers, the franchise have no doubt that Iyer is the man to lead the club.

"We backed Shreyas when we promoted him to be the captain. Under him, the team came third in 2019 and reached the final in 2020. He is growing as a leader. I am sure the team will continue to do well under his leadership," Capitals CEO Col. Vinod Bisht told TOI.

In the auction last month, the Capitals signed ex-Rajasthan and Pune captain Steve Smith, but Col. Vinod Bisht insisted that Smith, like other seniors in the side, will only have to ensure that he mentors Iyer.

"Any of the seniors who come in, be it Rahane, Ashwin or Steve Smith, they have a lot of knowledge to impart to the young camp. We expect all the seniors will continue to do so including Steve Smith.”

Ahead of the mega auction in 2018, Delhi chose to invest in youth, and it is a move that has since paid off as it has been the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw who have been the pillars of the franchise. Bisht claimed that there is a good chance that the franchise will, once again, retain the young core come the mega auction next season, where two new teams will be introduced.

"We had a young team which has been groomed for the last 3-4 years. Now they have flowered. If the youngsters continue to do well, we will look to have them with the two new teams coming in next year.”