Shreyas Iyer denied India T20I captaincy: ‘Aim at making an impact with performance first’
Indian cricket is currently in its golden phase in white-ball cricket, especially with the amount of talent they possess in the future prospects of white-ball cricketers. Shreyas Iyer, the Punjab Kings skipper, is undoubtedly one of the brightest of the names who has been ignored from the Indian T20I side over the past few years.
The Punjab Kings have had one of the most successful captains in the history of the team's legacy in the IPL, in the form of Shreyas Iyer. The Indian middle-order batter has almost reinvented the side and rediscovered their abilities.
Under Iyer's leadership, the Punjab Kings won nine of their league stage matches, while two of them ended in a draw. He then led the side in three knockout games, winning the Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians, but ended up as runners-up after being beaten twice by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the playoffs.
"Is Shreyas Iyer making a case for himself to be considered as a captaincy option in white-ball cricket, primarily T20Is?" - Zaheer Khan answers this question
Shreyas Iyer has picked up his captaincy streak from where he left off last season. Iyer has been a truly amazing leader in PBKS, with five wins in 6 of their initial matches in IPL 2026. Under the skipper, the team has looked invincible by all means.
Iyer has amassed 200+ runs this season as well and has been electric on the field for the Punjab Kings; despite this, fans picked his captaincy to be his standout feature during a fan poll. Following these discussions, it has started over whether Iyer should be handed captaincy in India's white-ball setup.
Answering this question, Zaheer Khan, the former Indian pacer, replied on Cricbuzz, "I think first to be part of the T20 setup will be something on his mind; I am not sure if he is thinking about captaincy at this moment. In due course, he can be the contender for that, if that is what you are asking."
"He should be thinking about making an impact with his performances" - Zaheer Khan
Zaheer then stressed the fact that captaincy is a long-term goal for the veteran Indian batter; first, he should aim at securing a place in that T20 XI, which already looks well-equipped with the former players still in form, and several new players waiting in the queue.
"He has been captaining franchises for a while now and has been successful in the way he has led them. Clearly, he has that kind of look out and that mindset," explained Zaheer, who considered Shreyas' overwhelming record as a captain for three IPL franchises.
However, he continued, "When you look at the kind of players the Indian team has, I think first and foremost he should be aiming at making an impact with individual performances just as a player to secure a spot. He is very hungry to make a mark with individual performances for him for sure."
Shreyas Iyer becomes the first captain in IPL history to extend a 6-match undefeated streak
Shreyas Iyer started his captaincy journey in the IPL under Ricky Ponting when he was with the Delhi Capitals as a young and promising youngster. He then later switched sides to the Kolkata Knight Riders, after tremendous success with the Capitals, including two playoffs and a runners-up finish in the IPL.
With the Knight Riders, Iyer led them to a title in his only full season as captain of the side and was later released to be bought for a whopping price of INR 26.75 crore. He has since then led by example, leading from the front.
Under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy and Ricky Ponting's coaching, PBKS made it to the finals after a decade in the IPL and finished runners-up last season. However, he seems further motivated to seal the cup this season for the first time, as he sets a record of being undefeated after the first six games of an IPL season.
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About the Author
Subhomoy Datta is an author at Cricketaddictor, and he has been working at this website since June 2...
