India head coach Gautam Gambhir showered praise on T20I captain Shreyas Iyer ahead of the Asian Games. Gambhir said Iyer has a selfless nature, which helps him to lead from the front. Iyer’s T20I captaincy stint didn’t start on a high as India suffered six losses on the trot against Ireland and England.
However, India have won their next seven games under Iyer’s captaincy. Gambhir and Iyer had also combined to take Kolkata Knight Riders to glory in IPL 2024 as a mentor and leader respectively.
Gambhir recalled that Iyer was even ready to leave the number four batting position as KKR’s captain.
Gambhir said on JioStar, “Look, my first experience with Shreyas was when I went to KKR in 2024. Obviously, he was captaining the side, and the best thing I liked about Shreyas was that he was willing, at times, to leave his position as well at No. 4. That is when I realised that the first and foremost quality of a good leader, and I’m not going to talk about captaincy, is how selfless you are. Shreyas has that quality.”
“That probably was the biggest tick that Shreyas can carry for the rest of his journey as a captain. He was so flexible that he was okay if someone went ahead of him. It happens very rarely that a captain, who is probably your main batter as well, sacrifices his position for the team’s cause, whether for someone else’s impact or from a left-hand-right-hand combination point of view. He is willing to sacrifice his position.”
On the other hand, Gambhir said Shubman Gill has ticked almost all the boxes as a captain in Test and ODI formats. Gill has done a decent job and will lead India in the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies.
“Leaving out anyone in Indian cricket from the playing eleven is always going to be tough. But when you have to do that as a young captain, it is probably the toughest job for any coach and captain to do it. So far, he has done that. He has actually ticked all the boxes,” said Gambhir on Gill (via India Today).
“I feel that he has done all the right things. He has had a bit of a tough time in One Day cricket. But I am sure things will turn around because he has done all the right things.”
The first ODI between India and the West Indies will be played on Sunday.
