Exclusive | Shreyas Iyer In Line For Captaincy As BCCI Prepares 2-Team Structure For T20Is

[Norman]

Our T20 team is pretty much on auto pilot mode now. Roles are pretty clear for everyone. I don't think captaincy matters that much. 

 

Just pick the strongest possible XI and make anyone the captain and we'll be good 

[Lone Wolf]

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

Will Shreyas work on Aus/RSA pitches?

 

Why not make Sanju captain? Sure starter, clutch, cool level-headed person, and has experience leading RR to finals and playoffs a few times. 

 

@Ultimate_Game

Should have rewarded Samson who clutched it out in 3, Ko games.

As good as Iyer is, him jumping the queue would piss some players 

[Stan AF]

Singular bad idea.

 

Known performers like Samson/bumrah should be the captain. 

 

You don't just add a guy into the team and make him the captain right away.

[Ultimate_Game]

On 5/8/2026 at 2:48 AM, Gollum said:

Will Shreyas work on Aus/RSA pitches?

 

Why not make Sanju captain? Sure starter, clutch, cool level-headed person, and has experience leading RR to finals and playoffs a few times. 

 

@Ultimate_Game

 

Iyer will do well. T20 pitches are mostly flat and he's the best T20 middle order batter. SKY is done so we need someone to fill in the number 4 slot. I don't see anyone better than Iyer to claim the spot. And if he plays it's a no-brainer for him to be the captain.

 

The reason I don't want Samson to be the captain is:

 

1. He hasn't captained a team before at a high level, say IPL or intls. He may well be like Jadeja or Pant or Axar as a captain. Finding a good captain is difficult. We all saw that with the Kohli fiasco where we pushed Kohli over Rohit and it led to years of 0 ICC titles when Rohit was clearly a better option. In this case Iyer has shown his captaincy credentials so no point in taking a risk with Sanju.

 

2. Samson is playing as an opener. That spot has stiff competition with likes of Abhishek, Sooryavanshi, Arya, Jaiswal vying for those 2 spots along with Samson. If Samson ever goes out of form we'll not be able to replace him if he's the captain. And in modern T20s opening and batting in PP is the most crucial part of success in T20s and we don't want to risk it. Plus Ishan is there as well who can keep in case Samson falters. With Iyer we reduce that dependency.

Edited May 9 by Ultimate_Game

[bowl_out]

While I'm happy for Shreyas, I wonder if they should have gone progressively with his captaincy appointment. He is not even in the squad now. Bringing him straight into the squad as captain might piss off existing players. Just hope it doesn't go the Mumbai Indians way with sudden announcement of Pandya as captain bypassing others.

 

Maybe Samson would have been a good choice for 1-2 years before making Shreyas full time captain. Still any day better than Sky on current form.

[Gollum]

53 minutes ago, Ultimate_Game said:

 

Iyer will do well. T20 pitches are mostly flat and he's the best T20 middle order batter. SKY is done so we need someone to fill in the number 4 slot. I don't see anyone better than Iyer to claim the spot. And if he plays it's a no-brainer for him to be the captain.

 

The reason I don't want Samson to be the captain is:

 

1. He hasn't captained a team before at a high level, say IPL or intls. He may well be like Jadeja or Pant or Axar as a captain. Finding a good captain is difficult. We all saw that with the Kohli fiasco where we pushed Kohli over Rohit and it led to years of 0 ICC titles when Rohit was clearly a better option. In this case Iyer has shown his captaincy credentials so point in taking a risk with Sanju.

 

2. Samson is playing as an opener. That spot has stiff competition with likes of Abhishek, Sooryavanshi, Arya, Jaiswal vying for those 2 spots along with Samson. If Samson ever goes out of form we'll not be able to replace him if he's the captain. And in modern T20s opening and batting in PP is the most crucial part of success in T20s and we don't want to risk it. Plus Ishan is there as well who can keep in case Samson falters. With Iyer we reduce that dependency.

Bro. I understand what you are saying.

 

But there is a factual error. Sanju did captain RR for 4 seasons, took them to final once (only their 2nd appearance after 2008) and playoffs the other time (lost qualifier 2). RR is a low-profile franchise, light on $$$$, so quite impressive. Ashwin (who was part of RR then) also praised his captaincy on his YT channel, that he was always calm/collected, and a good communicator. Hope Sanju gets to captain CSK (pressure of a high profile franchise and continuing Dhoni's legacy) to hone his skills further, Gaikwad isn't up to the task. 

Edited May 8 by Gollum

[Ultimate_Game]

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

Bro. I understand what you are saying.

 

But there is a factual error. Sanju did captain RR for 4 seasons, took them to final once (only their 2nd appearance after 2008) and playoffs the other time (lost qualifier 2). RR is a low-profile franchise, light on $$$$, so quite impressive. Ashwin (who was part of RR then) also praised his captaincy on his YT channel, that he was always calm/collected, and a good communicator. Hope Sanju gets to captain CSK (pressure of a high profile franchise and continuing Dhoni's legacy) to hone his skills further, Gaikwad isn't up to the task. 

 

I think Sanju's place will be under more pressure due to stiff competition for the opener's slot. Don't want to lock it up by handing him captaincy when he hasn't shown captaincy skills better than Iyer. No. 4 slot is easier to handle and manipulate so would prefer Iyer for both counts. Imagine if Samson goes off form as captain! We'll be stuck and waste an opening slot. With Iyer, even the worst scenario will be better than what we endured with SKY so I would still prefer Iyer as captain instead of Samson. And factoring in Samson's age, I would even look at Ishan as captain but that would be after Iyer moves on.

[vvvslaxman]

7 hours ago, bowl_out said:

While I'm happy for Shreyas, I wonder if they should have gone progressively with his captaincy appointment. He is not even in the squad now. Bringing him straight into the squad as captain might piss off existing players. Just hope it doesn't go the Mumbai Indians way with sudden announcement of Pandya as captain bypassing others.

 

Maybe Samson would have been a good choice for 1-2 years before making Shreyas full time captain. Still any day better than Sky on current form.

Ideally Samson.  If no Samson i can't think of anyone else captaining this side besides Iyer.  Samson doing captaincy, keeping, opening all 3 might be burdensome for him. He is a genuine match winner.  SKY's only plus is luck. Lot of things just happen to him.

[Stan AF]

6 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

 SKY's only plus is luck. Lot of things just happen to him.

All of you ICF haters will one day beg for that slice of luck.

 

I can see it already.

[Gollum]

2 hours ago, Stan AF said:

All of you ICF haters will one day beg for that slice of luck.

 

I can see it already.

What do you see in SKY that others here don't? Are you ok with playing with just 10 men?

 

Besides in this WC, SKY lost tosses against Eng and NZ. 

Edited May 9 by Gollum

[Suhaan]

Good decision,appoint Captain from someone in the xi 

 

[Suhaan]

It was SKY who did man manage well, winning WCs aren't easy ,and this victory is a testimony to his captaincy 

[Suhaan]

18 hours ago, bowl_out said:

While I'm happy for Shreyas, I wonder if they should have gone progressively with his captaincy appointment. He is not even in the squad now. Bringing him straight into the squad as captain might piss off existing players. Just hope it doesn't go the Mumbai Indians way with sudden announcement of Pandya as captain bypassing others.

 

Maybe Samson would have been a good choice for 1-2 years before making Shreyas full time captain. Still any day better than Sky on current form.

Iyer and Samson are the same age

[bowl_out]

3 hours ago, Suhaan said:

Iyer and Samson are the same age

It's not about age. It's about making someone captain when they weren't even part of the squad. It gives me Hardik vibes when he was moved from GT to MI as captain.

 

Hope it ends better for Shreyas. I really want him to be white ball captain, but the question is whether it should be right away.

[Suhaan]

5 hours ago, bowl_out said:

It's not about age. It's about making someone captain when they weren't even part of the squad. It gives me Hardik vibes when he was moved from GT to MI as captain.

 

Hope it ends better for Shreyas. I really want him to be white ball captain, but the question is whether it should be right away.

I said it as I thought you meant Iyer will takeover from him eventually 

[Stan AF]

12 hours ago, Gollum said:

What do you see in SKY that others here don't? Are you ok with playing with just 10 men?

 

Besides in this WC, SKY lost tosses against Eng and NZ. 

 

2 wc titles.

A cool and calm head. 

 

Most of all he knows how to win as a captain .

[vvvslaxman]

6 hours ago, bowl_out said:

It's not about age. It's about making someone captain when they weren't even part of the squad. It gives me Hardik vibes when he was moved from GT to MI as captain.

 

Hope it ends better for Shreyas. I really want him to be white ball captain, but the question is whether it should be right away.

 

 

Samson is the sole contender. But samson is an uber nice guy. No ego. He will be happy to work with Iyer. We should stay away from Hardik as far as possible.  Rest of the guys won't have issues toing the line of Iyer. Samson is at peak of his powers. Let them get the best out of him as a player. Anyway he chips in with advice even as a keeper.  

[SecondSlip]

On 4/24/2026 at 7:42 AM, putrevus said:

Iyer has shown leadership  in last three seasons. I don't see that in Gill. It would be good to make Iyer whiteball captain.He is already part of  odi team.

Are you sure about this Putrevu Saab?

[sage]

Everyone knew this was a bad idea

[putrevus]

2 hours ago, SecondSlip said:

Are you sure about this Putrevu Saab?

No I was completely wrong in my initial assessment of Iyer.