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India’s consecutive T20 series defeats against Ireland and England have raised serious questions on the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer. However, former India batsman Wasim Jaffer believes that it is too early to decide on the new captain and believes that not just Shreyas Iyer but the entire team should take responsibility for the poor results.
India under Shreyas Iyer failed to win a single full T20I during the two tours. They first suffered a 2–0 series defeat against Ireland and then came back with a 4–0 series defeat against England. The disappointing results also ended India’s long reign at the top of the ICC men’s T20I rankings. Recently, Dinesh Karthik highlighted Shreyas Iyer’s tactical lapses after England’s whitewash.
Wasim Jaffer breaks silence on Shreyas Iyer after England’s defeat
Despite the poor results, Wasim Jaffer said that Shreyas Iyer should remain India’s T20 captain. The former Punjab Kings (PBKS) coach believes that captaincy at the international level is a completely new challenge for Iyer and a tough tour should not decide his future.
Jaffer believes that Iyer handled the pressure well and showed enough confidence to lead the team. He also pointed out that the captain scored 218 runs in the five-match T20 series against England, which shows that he led from the front even when the situation was difficult.
Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube channel, “I don’t think he captained poorly. No one suddenly becomes a bad captain overnight. We have been praising him for a long time and the results are in front of everyone, especially the way he led his IPL team.”
This is his first time to captain India in international cricket, so he is in new territory. I think he can handle it. He has the confidence and self-belief to do so. He also scored runs. Collectively, as a team, we performed poorly. But I think Shreyas Iyer is not a bad option for the future. In my opinion, he did a good job.”
Wasim Jaffer reveals Gautam Gambhir’s hidden plan behind England series
Meanwhile, Wasim Jaffer believes that the recent T20 series in England was not just about winning matches. He believes that the Indian cricket team management has considered this as an important opportunity to test the players and build the right team ahead of the next ICC T20 World Cup in 2028.
Wasim Jaffer also pointed out that the recent T20 series gave many new faces an opportunity to show what they can do at the international level. He also said that the absence of experienced stars like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya gave other players a chance to step into bigger roles.
He also looked to ignore Kuldeep Yadav only to try out different spin options and assess their performance. The former Indian opener feels that the performance in these matches will play a major role in deciding who earns the trust of the team for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“I think it seemed like the selectors and the coaches, especially Gautam Gambhir, wanted to try out some players and see who they could trust in the World Cup,” Jaffer said. Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma made a unique world record.
Wasim Jaffer explains why India gave priority to testing players more than winning
Additionally, cricket pundits believe that the England T20 series was primarily used to test players in overseas conditions rather than focusing solely on winning series or games.
Jaffer signed off by saying, “That’ll probably give them an answer as to whether these players are long-term prospects or whether they’re just not the right fit. That’s the impression I got from these two series. It seems like they wanted to try out some players and figure out which players they can support going forward and which players they can’t.”
