Delhi Capital skipper Rishabh Pant, who seemed to be emotional after the loss against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, said his side will “come back better” for next season of the Indian Premier League. The competition’s final leg, the Playoffs, have not been the most comfortable situation for the Delhi side.

In the post-match presentation, Pant said, “We played really good cricket, yes, there will be ups and downs, but we’ll stay positive, be there for each other, care for each other and hopefully we’ll come back better next season”, Cricbuzz reported.

Wednesday’s game, which was responsible to determine who is going to face Chennai Super Kings in the final bid to claim this year’s title, transformed into a close call for both teams. Delhi Capitals managed to slow down Kolkata’s pace, with Ravichandran Ashwin coming close to a hattrick after dismissing Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine. 

Pant said in the presentation, “I do not have words to express at the moment, can not tell anything. We just kept believing, tried to stay in the game as long as possible. The bowlers nearly pulled it back, but it’s unfortunate that it did not go our way”, according to reports from Cricbuzz.

The 24-year-old Delhi skipper added, “They bowled very well in the middle-overs, we got stuck and couldn’t rotate strike. Delhi Capitals are known to be positive and hopefully, we will come back better next season.”

Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer was presented with the Man of the Match award for outperforming all others on the field. The 26-year-old scored 55 runs off 41 deliveries. He had a strike rate of 134.14, which was fueled by a total of seven boundaries.

He said in the post-match presentation, “I am doing what has been asked of me. I am very happy that we ended on the winning side. There is no difference. I came out and played the way I want to play. I am grateful to the management. It is a wonderful place to come and play. I think in the past couple of games, I have been trying to restrict myself a bit as I wanted to stay till the end. But then I thought it is not me.”