The BCCI’s senior men’s selection committee would be feeling all the pressure in the world. Critics will be going hard on it after the move to make Shreyas Iyer India’s T20I captain has started on a rocky road. Perhaps, a worst possible start that wasn’t in the Indian plans after they opted to remove T20 World Cup-winning skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
Under Suryakumar Yadav, India didn’t lose a single T20I bilateral or a multi-nation tournament. India were unbeatable, impregnable and undefeated. Winning a home T20 World Cup almost felt like a formality when Sanju Samson entered in ‘God mode’ for those three knockout matches. But the Aijt Agarkar-led think tank got rid of Suryakumar, who was genuinely woefully out of form.
Why BCCI trusted Shreyas Iyer
The management brought in Shreyas Iyer, who played his last T20I game back in 2023. More than two years of gap and Iyer found himself straightaway get the captaincy duties. That too, he was set to lead the most dominant side in the world. But everything has gone downhill.
First of all, India’s choice wasn’t out of the world. It may look like it to someone, but they knew what they were doing. Iyer showed his true class and leadership skills at the toughest tournament in the world.
His tactical acumen was lauded by everyone when Iyer wasn’t part of the side. He inherited a last-place side mid-season from Gautam Gambhir. He turned them around to reach the playoffs in 2019 and guided them to their first-ever IPL final in 2020. Then, he took all the limelight by taking the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to its much-awaited third IPL title win in 2024. Acquired for a staggering ₹26.75 crore, he immediately shattered an 11-year drought by taking Punjab to the IPL final next year in 2025. No other captain has led three different IPL sides to an IPL final. That’s no mean feat.
After all this and major domestic success with the Mumbai state team as well, Iyer was deemed perfect for the Indian captaincy role. He was a straight swap with Suryakumar with hopes of bettering him not just as a batter but to continue India’s domination in teh shortest format.
Ireland disaster followed by England setbacks
The challenge started with two T20Is against Ireland. India should’ve breezed past them but they were outclassed on every front. Indian batters just didn’t acclimatise themselves to the situation. They were poor in all departments and Iyer became not only the first Indian captain to lose to Ireland but endured a 2-0 cleansweep bashing. Sunil Gavaskar dubbed it as one of the lowest points in Indian cricket history. But if that wasn’t enough, Iyer hasn’t enjoyed success in the first two T20Is against England as well. The Indian batters, who were supposed to be more suited to play on fast English tracks, failed to show up here again. Abhishek Sharma looks a class apart but others have struggled. Although Iyer himself got a fifty in the opening game, there was a connect that was missing.
In the second T20I, India unleashed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi but still didn’t find success. It is harsh to expect brilliance from the 15 year old from get-go but Iyer’s team once again fell short.
Historic unwanted record piles pressure on Iyer
England just pulled off their biggest T20I chase against India and did it at Old Trafford too. Chasing 192, England got off to a shaky start. Arshdeep struck twice in the first over and removed both Salt and Buttler for 1 run. But then Brook flipped the game. He took 27 runs off Arshdeep’s next over and gave England some momentum back.
India pulled things back in the middle. Axar was tight, Varun got Jacks, and for a bit it looked like India had control. The turning point was Bishnoi’s over. He overstepped twice and gave away two free-hits. Bethell didn’t miss. He smashed Bishnoi for 3 sixes and a four in a 29-run over and that basically killed the game. He finished unbeaten on 76, the second highest by an England batter vs India at home.
With this win, England have now won 4 T20Is in a row at Manchester. It’s also only their second win vs India in 8 games since 2024. For India, it’s their third straight T20I loss, the first time that’s happened since 2021. Shreyas Iyer also became the only Indian captain with 4 games and zero wins. England chased smarts. Iyer’s India slowed down in the middle and paid for it.
Cricket
Shreyas Iyer fails to find footings as new India captain with 4-game winless streak
