NEWS
Follow UsAhead of the second half of the 2021 Indian Premier League, Delhi Capitals' opener Shikhar Dhawan said that the return of Shreyas Iyer will strengthen the team even more and wants his franchise to start the second leg on a high note. Delhi have won six of their eight encounters so far and are currently leading the points table.
The 2021 IPL was suspended in May due to multiple COVID cases inside its bio-bubble and the second leg of the lucrative tournament will begin on September 19 in the UAE. Iyer had missed the first leg of the IPL after suffering a shoulder injury during the first ODI between India and England in March.
"We were in a certain flow in the first half of the season and then that flow was broken once the tournament was suspended," Dhawan said in a release issued by the franchise.
"So we have to rebuild our energy and get back on the flow we were in. The good thing is that our team is well balanced and Shreyas Iyer is back in the side as well, so our team is even stronger now."
The 35-year-old, who is currently the highest run-getter in the IPL 2021 season with 380 runs in eight matches, said the team is focused on their first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
"It's great to be back. There's a great environment within the team. All the boys are working very hard and I am looking forward to the IPL season. I am very excited to play the upcoming matches," said the opener, who has scored 3 fifties in the season so far.
"It's very important to start on a high note. We need to do well from the first match itself and therefore we are working very hard for our first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. We have to bring our hard work into effect during matches and produce great results."
Talking about the conditions in the UAE, Dhawan said: "We'll beat the heat as well. It takes some time to get used to the humidity here since we were indoors for a while. But we've been doing this for so many years so we'll definitely beat the heat."
(With inputs from PTI)