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India is currently on a white-ball tour of England, as the Men in Blue are currently playing the 5-match T20I series, which will follow the three-match ODI series. Shreyas Iyer, who has been named as the new T20I captain, has had a tough start to his tenure, losing the series to Ireland and then losing the second match against England.
Shreyas Iyer has been a fantastic captain in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL). The Mumbai-based batter has also led the Mumbai team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. However, despite being one of the finest captains, he has failed to deliver in the Blue shirt. Though he has been in good touch with the bat, he has been making small mistakes.
Shreyas Iyer cannot handle international pressure?
Shreyas Iyer is the only captain to lead three franchises, Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), to three finals of the IPL and eventually winning it once with the Knights back in 2024. However, despite a poor start to his tenure, he himself is confident about his leadership role and also finding solutions to the mistakes.
Ahead of the third T20I on Tuesday at Trent Bridge, former South Africa and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter AB de Villiers has backed Shreyas despite early criticism from many former cricketers and experts over his poor captaincy start in international cricket.
"Give him an extended period of time"- AB de Villiers backs Shreyas Iyer
AB de Villiers, while speaking on his YouTube channel, stated that Shreyas Iyer deserves more time in the job and that the former is a fan of his style of leadership. He has asked everyone to be patient and let him prove that he is a fine cricketer and a leader as well.
"Shreyas is just starting out. Give him a break. Give him an extended period of time to prove if he is the right guy or not. It does not take one loss or one victory, for that matter, to prove that you are a good player or captain."
"I think he is a valid person to take India forward"- AB de Villiers backs Rajat Patidar as future India captain
Apart from speaking on Shreyas Iyer, he also spoke about the possibility of Rajat Patidar possibly leading the India National Cricket Team one day. He believes that Rajat Patidar now must focus on leading RCB and winning more trophies with the franchise in future.
"I think Shreyas deserves a bit of time. I have always loved him as a captain in the IPL, with his calm demeanour. By no means do I think Rajat (Patidar) can't do it," de Villiers said. I think he is a valid person to take India forward in future, perhaps. But it will be unfair to give Shreyas one or two or three games and say, 'no, no, no, he is not the guy'."
"He has been selected now, and I think he deserves an extended period, even though I absolutely love Rajat. Let Rajat focus on RCB for now on winning more trophies. Three in a row would be nice, and then we can maybe talk about the captain of India," he added.
