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Former India spinner Maninder Singh claimed that a decade ago he predicted Shreyas Iyer would lead the national cricket team across all formats. Maninder's comments about his previous prediction came after Team India's 3-0 T20I series against Zimbabwe under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer.
It was the team's first win in the format under Iyer as the captain, after the departure of the previous skipper Suryakumar Yadav. The Men in Blue sealed the win against Zimbabwe in style, but their beginning of the journey under the newly appointed captain was not smooth enough, greeting defeats against Ireland and England in two consecutive series.
For Maninder Singh, Shreyas Iyer is a special one for him
Leaving the past on the shelf, the former cricketer stated that he always considers Shreyas Iyer as a special one, with all the abilities to captain the India National Cricket Team in all formats of the game. Maninder Singh opines that whenever he watches Iyer playing, it is a comfort for his eyes.
Maninder strongly believes the middle-order batter is destined to be the leader of the team in each format. However, as of now, with Shubman Gill as Test and ODI captain, Iyer is the captain of India's T20I team.
"He (Shreyas Iyer) is one cricketer about whom I made a prediction 10 years ago that he would one day captain India in every format. That was my assessment. Whenever I watched him play, I felt he had a different class altogether. He looked like a special kind of player", the 61-year-old said, speaking on the YouTube channel for Fancode.
I have very high expectations: Maninder Singh
Maninder Singh firmly believes that Shreyas Iyer may have to carry extra responsibilities in the future.
"That's why I believed he would go on to captain India across all formats. It didn't happen, but that's alright. He has still become India's T20I captain. I have very high expectations from him, and I have always been one of his biggest well-wishers,” he added.
Shreyas Iyer's international career in brief
So far, after the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, Shreyas has captained India in 10 T20Is, registering three wins and six losses, and one washed-out match. After making his debut for India in the T20I format in 2017, the Mumbai-born has featured in 61 T20Is, scoring 1,415 runs at an average of 32.15 and a strike rate of 138.04. After missing out on a couple of years in the format, he returned with the captaincy role.
According to media reports, Iyer had to compete with other contenders like Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan before receiving the new role for the team.
In the One Day International format, the batter has compiled 3,136 runs from 82 matches at an average of 45.44 and a strike rate of 97.84 with the support of 24 half-centuries and five centuries. He played 14 Tests for India, scoring 811 runs at an average of 36.86.
