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India are currently on the white-ball tour of England as the Men in Blue are currently playing a 5-match T20I series, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series. Shreyas Iyer, who has been named as the new T20I captain, had a tough start to his tenure, losing the series to Ireland and then the second match against England.
Shreyas Iyer has been a brilliant captain in the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL). This Mumbai batsman has also led the Mumbai team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. However, despite being one of the finest captains, he has failed to perform well in the blue shirt. Although he is in good touch with the bat, he is making small mistakes.
Shreyas Iyer can’t handle international pressure?
Shreyas Iyer is the only captain to take three franchises, Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) to three IPL finals and ultimately win it once with the Knights in 2024. However, despite a poor start to his tenure, he is confident about his leadership role and is also looking for solutions to the mistakes.
Ahead of the third T20I at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, former South Africa and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman AB de Villiers has backed Shreyas despite initial criticism from several former cricketers and experts over his poor captaincy start in international cricket.
“Give him an extended period of time” – AB de Villiers supports Shreyas Iyer
AB de Villiers, speaking on his YouTube channel, said that Shreyas Iyer deserves more time in the position and Shreyas is a fan of his leadership style. He has asked everyone to be patient and let him prove that he is a good cricketer and also a leader.
“Shreyas has just started. Give him a break. Give him a long time to prove whether he is the right guy or not. You don’t need one loss or one win to prove that you are a good player or captain.”
“I think he is a legitimate person to take India forward” – AB de Villiers backs Rajat Patidar as future India captain
Apart from speaking on Shreyas Iyer, he also talked about the possibility of Rajat Patidar possibly leading the India national cricket team one day. He believes that Rajat Patidar should now focus on leading RCB and winning more trophies with the franchise in the future.
De Villiers said, “I think Shreyas deserves some time. As a captain in the IPL, I have always liked his calm nature. I don’t think in any way that Rajat (Patidar) can’t do that.” I think maybe he is a legitimate person to take India forward in the future. But it would be unfair to give Shreyas one or two or three games and say, ‘No, no, no, he is not that guy’.
He said, “He has been selected now, and I think he deserves an extended period, even though I absolutely love Rajat. Let Rajat focus on winning more trophies at RCB for now. Three in a row would be good, and then we can probably talk about the India captain.”