DC captain Shreyas Iyer assessed the side's performance in the final during the post-match press conference.
Delhi Capitals' maiden appearance in the IPL final ended in an anti-climax as Mumbai Indians successfully defended their title, beating DC by five wickets on Tuesday. After restricting the Capitals to 156/7 in 20 overs, the MI chased the target with 8 balls to spare.
Shreyas Iyer, the DC captain, assessed the side's performance in the final during the post-match press conference, and said that a lack of good start proved critical to DC's chances.
"When you enter the finals, it is important to have a good start and that's what we lacked in this game. There was pressure of getting a good total in the powerplay and we lost early wickets which put us on the backfoot," Iyer said.
It was Iyer (65*) and Rishabh Pant (56) who stabilised the DC innings after early blows, which left them reeling at 22/3 at one stage.
"We just batted to our abilities," Iyer said about his partnership with Pant.
"We knew that if our targeted bowler comes in, we have to go after him. Also, at the same time, we needed to rotate the strike as well. So it was important that we get 8-10 runs in an over, which really got us to a good total after 15th over."
On his decision to bat after winning the toss, Iyer said, "If you have to win matches, you will have to back your strengths. In the last game, we batted first, we put a good total on the board and then our bowlers did a great job. It's just the fatigue that creeped in and maybe the bowlers just lost it in the powerplay.
"Personally, I don't have any regrets on my decision after winning the toss."
Iyer also heaped praise on DC's bowling unit and said that the failure to build the opening partnership in most of their games remains a concern.
"We've been outstanding throughout (in bowling). KG (Rabada) gets the purple cap, setting an example for every bowler in the team, putting the gas throughout. Ashwin has got a great mind, knows his strategy very well. He comes and executes exactly the way the team wants him to. Definitely a lot to take away and come back stronger next season," Iyer said.
"We've been lacking in the starts. For the majority of the games this season, we lost early wickets. We need to work on it going forward. Other than that, we need to strategize the bowling plans as we've leaked a lot of runs in the powerplay. The second half of the season wasn't the best in terms of bowling we did.
"I'm happy with all the efforts the coaches and support staff have put in."
