Shreyas Iyer and Rayan Ten Dewishat (Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry photo)
New Delhi: Shreyas Iyer’s start as India’s T20I captain has been far from ideal. After a shock 2-0 defeat to Ireland, India were thrashed 4-0 by England in the five-match T20I series.
The latest setback came on Saturday, when India lost the fifth and final T20I by 56 runs at The Rose Bowl in Southampton.The defeat also cost India the top spot in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings, with England moving to the top. India have now lost six consecutive T20Is under Iyer.
Despite the poor results, former Indian cricketer Abhishek Nayar believes it is too early to question Iyer’s future as captain.
“Give him the freedom to build his own team.”
Nayar said the new captain should be given enough time and freedom to shape the team according to his own plans.“When you give someone the responsibility of taking over from a champion team, you also want to give them the freedom to choose their team. The first time you become a captain, you don’t have the freedom to say, ‘This is where I want to take the team.’ You first deal with the team and then see what you have to do with it,” Nayar told JioHotstar.He feels that defeats to Ireland and England will help Ayr understand the changes needed.
“After these two series, he will have time to think and understand what he requires from this team, how he needs them to play and what he needs from the support staff. So, it will be difficult to say that Shreyas Iyer’s future is in jeopardy as captain.”
“Don’t judge him too soon.”
Nayyar said Iyer should first be allowed to make the team his own before people start judging his leadership.He pointed to England captain Harry Brook, England Test captain Ben Stokes, and former India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as examples of captains who have been trusted to build their own teams.“It’s been a really tough series, and you can point the finger at Shreyas Iyer, but the more sensible thing is to understand what he’s asking of this team. Give him the ownership of feeling that this is his team, like Harry Brook does now, or Ben Stokes did with the England Test team, or Rohit Sharma did for India when he was captain, or Virat Kohli did, especially with the Test team. Then it’s a better place to judge him.”
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“No panic button”
Nayar also reminded fans that even current ODI captain Shubman Gill did not enjoy instant success when he first took charge.He believes Eyre needs time to settle into the role before his leadership can be fairly assessed.“Even Shubman Gill, when he became ODI captain for the first time, did not win a few series in the beginning. When you start building your confidence, you build confidence and the team you envision. It is still early days, there is no panic button, but there has to be clarity about the direction this team is headed,” he added.With two successive defeats, Iyer’s leadership has come under scrutiny, but Nayar believes patience – not panic – is the right approach as India begins a new phase in T20 cricket.