Perhaps no other cricketer has experienced as much turbulence and transformation between December 3, 2023, and June 6, 2026, as Shreyas Iyer, who took over the reins of India's T20 team from Suryakumar Yadav on Saturday.
Shreyas' story is extraordinary because it is incredibly difficult for an Indian cricketer to survive a 30-month hiatus, especially in the shortest format where talents constantly compete for a spot, and then make a comeback, let alone as captain.
What Changed for Shreyas Iyer?
So, what has the 31-year-old done in that interim to impress the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel and head coach Gautam Gambhir? It has to be his single-minded dedication to claw back from setbacks and create an upward-moving career curve.
Shreyas was facing a bleak future after losing his BCCI central contract, along with Jharkhand's Ishan Kishan, in February 2024 for skipping domestic matches for Mumbai that season. It took him nearly a year to earn the contract back, and he also had to endure rejections from India squads for major events like the T20 World Cup (2024, 2026) and Asia Cup (2025). However, he never sulked or vented his frustration on social media. Instead, he focused on improving his batting and recovering from certain injuries that forced him to take a break from red-ball cricket last year.
Ties with Gautam Gambhir
The first sign of his revival came when he led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title in 2024, working alongside team mentor Gambhir. This might have also given the former India opener a chance to closely observe Shreyas' mindset and thinking. Even before that, it was Gambhir who recommended Shreyas as his successor when he stepped down from Delhi Capitals' (then Daredevils) captaincy midway through IPL 2018. So, social media speculations about a strained relationship between the two might remain just that.
In the last two years, the Mumbai batsman has matured significantly as an individual and as a cricketer. He now knows how to set aside personal choices for the larger good of the team. Ricky Ponting, who worked extensively with Shreyas at Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, validated this growth.
"He's a much more mature player than he's probably ever been in his whole career. He's completely on top of his game now. He's in that little sweet spot in his life and career where, if captaincy came his way, then I think he'd make the most of it," Ponting told PTI during IPL 2026.
The high praise was well-founded. The right-hander produced two of his best IPL seasons as a T20 batter for PBKS: 604 runs in 2025 and 498 runs a year later, averaging over 50 with 11 fifties and a hundred. Always a terrifying destroyer of spin, Shreyas is now unfazed by pacers after adding an effective pull shot to his arsenal.
Consistency Over Contenders
That consistency likely tipped the scales in favor of Shreyas over Sanju Samson, whose brilliance is often accompanied by baffling inconsistency, and other worthy contenders like Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, whose leadership skills have not been thoroughly tested.
However, Shreyas will now face intense scrutiny as captain of the national team, which is a different challenge from leading an IPL franchise. He will be judged on team performances, selections, and his own batting. In this context, his ascension comes at the right time. He will begin his tenure with series against Ireland and England, which will test his batting and captaincy acumen. Beyond that, no major T20 tournaments are immediately on the horizon, as the focus shifts to next year's ODI World Cup. The T20 World Cup is in 2028, giving him ample time to develop a blueprint and mold the team according to his preferences.
The Biggest Test
Shreyas' toughest task will be managing the expectations of a billion passionate fans. His predecessors, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, led the team to T20 World Cup triumphs, and nothing less is expected of Shreyas. Even minor slip-ups may not be forgiven easily. However, Shreyas possesses a stoic, almost detached side to his captaincy, which was evident when PBKS went through a tailspin in the second half of this year's IPL and missed the playoffs. He does not carry the weight of victory or failure on his mind, always staying in the present and trying to win that particular day. It is an invaluable quality in the wild world of T20 cricket.
Welcome to the Shreyas Iyer era!
