Shreyas Iyer needs Prince Yadav over Ravi Bishnoi to break winless streak as India captain

No one would be feeling the heat and pressure more than Shreyas Iyer currently. There isn’t much that’s his fault but he is at the epicentre right now as far as the Indian T20I side is concerned. The BCCI has shown immense faith in Iyer that they altogether dropped their T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav. The Mumbai Indians (MI) superstar was one of the best T20I captains India ever had, but his batting form paved his way out of the Indian team.

Now, Iyer is at the helm and has experienced a worst-possible start. He took over from Suryakumar after the IPL 2026 and instantly endured a cleansweep loss to Ireland. Yes, it was one of the lowest points in Indian cricket’s history. Yet, we know we shouldn’t jump the gun since Iyer is settling into the Indian team after not being part of the T20I team for more than two years.

However, he is yet to win a T20I game for India as captain, and that is what would be creating immense pressure on the back of his mind. Although he is a calm character on the field, the pressure of replacing a world champion captain and not being able to record wins despite having such a talented squad would be something that will hamper Iyer.

What Shreyas Iyer needs for 3rd IND vs ENG T20I

After the first T20I against England was washed out due to rain, India got outplayed in the second in Manchester. Although India handed the debut to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, it was the other young English left-hander that stole the show – Jacob Bethell. Bethell played a scintillating knock of 76* off 46 to guide his side to a superb four-wicket win with an over to spare.

But it wasn’t a dominant knock. At one point in time, he was batting at 37 after taking 34 deliveries. England themselves needed 58 runs in 28 balls, with their top five batters already back in the pavilion. India were pretty much in the game until Ravi Bishnoi came in. The 17th over bowled by the leggie was the momentum shifter, taking India out of the match.

Bishnoi, who has started bowling very quickly, was put to the sword by Bethell, who hammered him for three sixes and a four to accumulate a total of 29 runs off that over.

Most runs conceded for India in a T20I match ft. Bishnoi

Rank	Player	Wickets	Opposition	Year
1	Prasidh Krishna	68	Australia	2023
2	Yuzvendra Chahal	64	South Africa	2018
2	Varun Chakravarthy	64	England	2026
4	Arshdeep Singh	62	South Africa	2022
5	Ravi Bishnoi	60*	England	2026
6	Jasprit Bumrah	58	New Zealand	2026

Bishnoi looked clueless. Although he is a leg-spinner, the Gujarat-born lad only bowls googlies. Whether right-handers or left-handers, he doesn’t have many variations. He tries to bowl closer to the stumps or goes away but none of it works against Bethell. Moreover, the two no-balls he bowled in that over completely blew his confidence. In total, he overstepped thrice in the innings, becoming the first spinner to dish out three no-balls in a T20I game (full-members only).

Even before the match began, many fans questioned India’s strategy to play three spinners in Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy and Bishnoi. The conditions in England aren’t made for tweakers, and surely not for the ones who generally bowl quickly. Whatever the management was thinking instantly backfired. Axar, who brings a batting option too, is a no-brainer. Chakaravarthy, after his injury, looked decent as well, as he had the second-best economy in the game among Indians.

Prince Yadav needs to get in

What India and Shreyas Iyer really need to do is to drop Bishnoi for a pacer. The third T20I will be played at Trent Bridge, where the pacers generally rule the roost. India have two options on the bench. Prince Yadav and Prasidh Krishna. On July 7, Gautam Gambhir-led management definitely needs Prince, as he brings an X-factor that the current Indian team surely need.

Prince brings something that you don’t really find in most of the pacers. He is tailor-made for T20 bowling, with a repertoire of variations. He got the pace as well and is a middle-overs enforcer. Prince has already made his T20I debut against Ireland, and he was superb there. Prince took a three-wicket haul, rattling the Irish batting unit.

The 24-year-old picked up 16 wickets in IPL 2026 and spent a large chunk of the tournament among the Purple Cap contenders. More importantly, he bowled with the new ball, returned at the death, and nailed yorkers under pressure. In the middle overs, he was the wrecker-in-chief. His first seven matches alone brought 13 wickets, while his thunderbolt that cleaned up Virat Kohli for a second-ball duck against RCB became one of the highlights of him.

So, India really need to bring Prince back into the team. He will definitely complement the other two pacers in Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, while the crunch match will test the LSG pacer quite well.