At a time when Hardik Pandya has surpassed the likes of Rishabh Pant and Rahul Dravid in the race for the limited-overs captaincy, former India cricketer Maninder Singh has tipped Shreyas Iyer to challenge the white-ball maverick for the top spot in the format.
In the absence of designated vice-captain KL Rahul and injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and seasoned opener Shikhar Dhawan commanded the Rohit Sharma-less squad for the New Zealand tour.
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While Dhawan will only lead a Rohit-less India in 50-over cricket, Pandya has emerged as a strong leadership prospect following his sensational captaincy debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Interestingly, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri believe there is no harm in naming Pandya as the Men in Blue’s new T20I captain.
Shreyas Iyer Is My Favorite: Maninder Singh
Former India cricketer Maninder responded to a Hindustan Times enquiry during a special media session organised by the Sony Sports Network in the lead-up to the Bangladesh series by hailing superstar Shreyas Iyer as captain Rohit’s perfect successor in the limited-overs game. Premier batter Iyer leads India’s middle order in Bangladesh, while great all-rounder Pandya is resting for the bilateral series.
“I’ve been saying this for the past 3-4 years, you know Shreyas Iyer is my favourite, whenever I have seen him lead any side, when he led the IPL side or anywhere, he looks like a good thinker of the game. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and he is somebody who is very positive.
You can see his approach when he bats, whenever he comes to bat he is looking for runs. He is not somebody who thinks that – ‘I’m gonna stay at the wicket for sometime, and then I start scoring runs’.
If he doesn’t get boundaries from the word go, you can see him rotating his strike, he is looking for singles, trying to find the gaps and that’s his quality,” Maninder explained.
Maninder Singh Hopes Shreyas Iyer Gets Regular Opportunities To Play For India
Maninder Singh, who has played 35 Tests and 59 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for India, believes that all-rounder Pandya is ready to take over the captaincy reins from veteran opener Rohit in white-ball cricket. Concerning top batter Iyer, the former Indian cricketer and full-time cricket commentator asked selectors to give the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain a longer leash across all formats of the game.
“For me, I still feel, I’ve said it earlier Hardik Pandya at the moment – you can make him the captain in white-ball cricket. But in my mind, its Shreyas Iyer, actually (a candidate) for the past 3-4 years.
I really hope that we give him opportunities to play for India regularly in all the formats because he has a good brain,” the ex-India cricketer added.
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