SHARJAH: Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer has attributed all those big sixes against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday to the enormous "hard and smart work" that he had put in the gym sessions as he doesn't consider himself a "gifted player".
Iyer hit 88 off 38 balls with six sixes and seven fours in Delhi's 18-run win over KKR in an IPL game here.
"I know the hard work and the smart work I have put in through my gym sessions, so I wouldn't say I am a very gifted player," Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"It was really necessary for me to take time at the start which I did in the earlier games as well. It was the right time for me to take on the bowlers and then rotate strike as well after that. Luckily it worked out for me. We keep talking about close victories and this was one of them. Really satisfied with the way everyone stepped up," Iyer said.
Losing captain Dinesh Karthik rued missing out on a couple of sixes in the middle overs that probably cost them the match according to him.
"Maybe in between 10-13 overs we didn't get many boundaries, we lost a couple of wickets as well which sets you back in such run chases. To be honest, couple more sixes and we would have crossed the line," Karthik said.