Iyer's scored an unbeaten 47 off 41 balls in Delhi Capitals's eight-wicket win over SunRisers Hyderabad © BCCI/IPL
It's been a tough last few months for Shreyas Iyer. Having dislocated his left shoulder in the opening ODI against England earlier this year, Iyer not only missed the first half of the IPL back in India but also barely made it to the T20 World Cup as one of the three reserves picked by India. BCCI Chairman of Selectors Chetan Sharma was candid in admitting that the selection panel wasn't quite sure about Iyer's fitness and the extent of his recovery, and that they would watch him closely during the IPL.

With that in mind, Iyer's unbeaten 47 off 41 balls in Delhi Capitals's eight-wicket win over SunRisers Hyderabad were welcome runs in more ways than one. The 26-year-old said he was "not satisfied, not content" with his performance in what was a successful comeback match.

"It's a really good feeling to be honest, I wouldn't say that I'm satisfied because the hunger has just gone up," Iyer said. "And the appetite keeps on increasing every match you play. So yeah, I'm not satisfied, not content."

Iyer also recounted his time on the sidelines and credited his family and friends for keeping things breezy for him.

"I have a very close-knit family and friends and they never made me feel that I was going through an injury," he said. "Firstly, you know when I got injured, it was really difficult for me to adapt to the fact that I was injured because I keep doing so many activities here and there. And I never think about that situation (injuries) and that happened. So it was really tough for me to adapt. But as I mentioned earlier, close-knit families and friends really kept me busy. They kept me in a positive frame of mind and never made me feel that you know I'm going through an injury. But when the rehab started and I started gaining strength, that feeling was really amazing. And that put me in a really good frame of mind that I will come back positive and strong."

Iyer comes back into a very different Delhi side, with Rishabh Pant now at the helm of affairs. The management decided to stick to Pant as captain despite Iyer being available for selection but it hasn't really affected Iyer's role as a batsman in the side, he said.

"Look when I got the captaincy, I was in a really different frame of mind. My decision making and temperament were very good and that helped me in the last two years. Change in captaincy is part of the decision making of the franchise and whatever decision they took, I respect that. Rishabh has been leading well since the start of the season, so they must have thought they'd continue him till the end of the season," Iyer said.

"For me, there's no drastic change that I am more focused during batting now as compared to when I was captain. I like soaking the pressure, when there's pressure the challenges increase and I try to get myself in the mindset that I perform well when the going's tough. When I went in today, there was some pressure to win the game and the wicket was also playing uneven. Mindset was that I have to finish the game as one of the main members of the team. Whenever I play, my aim is to play until the last ball and take my team to victory.

"I know my role pretty well. It is always based on the situation. But my intent has always been positive. And I see to it that I have that aggressive nature when I step onto the wicket, you know, irrespective of the situation we are facing. And you know, I've been maintaining that rhythm right from the start. Even before my injury, I was in that frame of mind and I'm still continuing with the same approach. And my routines and process have been on point so you know, the preparation or the boxes that are ticked before coming here, that really states that I'm in a great frame of mind and I have to just keep backing my instincts and that's what I've been doing. And this is just the first game. It's a long leg and hopefully you know why I keep performing the way I'm doing right now and see to it that we will lift the championship."