Abhishek Nayar breaks silence on Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy after England whitewash, says ‘It will be harsh…

India’s disappointing T20I run has raised questions over Shreyas Iyer’s leadership, but former India cricketer and ex-assistant coach Abhishek Nayar believes the new captain deserves more time before any conclusions are drawn.

Even after India lost the series 0-4 against England, there are many who have questioned if Iyer is the right man to lead the side in the shortest format. However, Nayar feels it would be unfair to judge a captain who is still at the beginning of his journey.

India’s latest setback came in the fifth T20I at The Rose Bowl, where they suffered a 56-run defeat to complete a series whitewash. The loss also ended India’s reign as the No. 1-ranked T20I side, with England moving to the top of the ICC rankings.

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The defeat followed an earlier 2-0 series loss to Ireland, meaning Iyer is still searching for his first victory as India’s T20I captain.

‘It will be harsh to say his future is in jeopardy’: Former coach

Nayar believes every new captain should be given enough freedom to build the team according to his own ideas instead of being judged solely on early results.

“When you give someone the mantle of taking over from a champion side, you also want to give him the liberty of picking his side. The first time you become captain, you don’t get the liberty of saying, ‘This is where I want to take the team.’ You first handle the team and then see what you need to do with it.

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“Post these two series, he’ll have time to reflect, understand what he requires from this team, how he needs them to play and what he needs from the support staff. So, it will be harsh to say that Shreyas Iyer’s future is in jeopardy as a captain.”

Nayar wants Iyer to get full ownership of the team

The former India assistant coach said a captain should first feel that the team truly belongs to him before his leadership is evaluated. He pointed to the examples of Harry Brook with England, Ben Stokes in Test cricket, and former India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

“It’s been a really hard series, and you can point fingers at Shreyas Iyer, but the more rational thing is to understand what he requires from this team. Give him the ownership of feeling like this is his team, like Harry Brook does right now, Ben Stokes did with the England Test team, or Rohit Sharma did for India when he was the captain, or Virat Kohli did, especially with the Test team. Then it’s a better place to judge him.“

‘There is no panic button yet’: Nayar

Nayar also reminded fans that even current ODI captain Shubman Gill needed time to settle into leadership before producing results. According to him, patience and clarity are more important than rushing to make changes.

“Even Shubman Gill, when he first became the ODI captain, didn’t win a few series first up. As you get into your own, you build confidence and the team you envision. It’s still early days, there’s no panic button, but there needs to be clarity as to where this team is going.”