Shreyas Iyer: Leading by Example

"An individual player is generally focussing on his performance alone – but, a skipper doesn't have that luxury, as he has to think about all the 11 players on the team," said Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik during a media interaction.

Apart from that, a skipper is also burdened with the responsibility of leading his collective side from the front. And, we have often witnessed how majestic skippers such as MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli accomplish this onerous task on an everyday basis. So, when a 23-year-old Shreyas Iyer was handed over the reins of a struggling Delhi Daredevils, experts wondered if the franchise was demanding too much from the Young Turk. The decision was taken by the Delhi-based franchise after local boy Gautam Gambhir decided to step down from his duty, in due cognizance of a string of poor performances in the first six matches. The 36-year-old opener managed a paltry 85 runs in six matches as his side eked out a solitary win. Iyer, on the other hand, was in sleek touch in IPL 11 and was scoring regularly for his team – urging coach Ricky Ponting to put forward his name for the vacant leader's spot. Unfazed by the daunting task of rejuvenating a beleaguered Delhi side, Iyer exuded confidence at his first press conference as a captain.

"I have always said this, I love facing challenges and this (the captaincy role) is a great opportunity for me to showcase my worth and get the team back on track," said the newly-anointed skipper.

The Mumbai-lad soon grabbed the opportunity by both hands as he struck a brilliant 93* against two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders and subsequently led his team to a massive 55-run win on the same night. Despite leading his side from the front, the humble skipper called it a collective effort rather than a one-man show.

"I think we clicked together as a side tonight, everyone was aware of their role in the team. We scored a good amount of runs in the powerplay and the solid start laid the foundation for the big total," he said.

However, it's hard to ignore Iyer's contribution on that night, when, as the skipper, he stood tall comfortably carrying the burden of the entire team on his shoulder. Saving his best for the last, the skipper sent the crowd berserk by scoring 28 runs (four sixes and a boundary) of the last over to set a ginormous 219 run total for the home side. This was the same guy who had failed to take his team home three nights earlier when Delhi needed five runs off the last ball against Kings XI Punjab with Iyer on strike. Delhi Daredevils' brilliance and KKR's hiccups were clear indication that the leadership role had churned the best out of the young man.

After an odd bad innings (13 runs) against the mighty Chennai Super Kings, Shreyas was back with a bang as he scored another half-century against Rajasthan Royals on home turf to keep his team's title hopes alive in the IPL.

But, it doesn't matter if Delhi goes the distance in this IPL or not as they have finally found a leader after many turbulent seasons. A leader who has shown the capability to lead the side from the front. It serves them an opportunity to build a long-term foundation that would assist in setting up a strong team which might help them shed the perennial underachiever's tag.