Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar believes it would be ‘harsh’ to question Shreyas Iyer’s future as T20I captain following back-to-back series defeats and said the newly appointed skipper needs to be given the freedom to shape the team according to his vision.

 

India’s difficult run in the shortest format continued on Saturday as they suffered a 56-run defeat to England in the fifth and final T20I at The Rose Bowl, completing a 4-0 series loss. The defeat also saw the reigning world champions surrender the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings to England and extended their losing streak in the format to six matches.

The series defeat came after India had suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Ireland, meaning Iyer is yet to register a win since taking over the T20I captaincy.

Nayar, however, believes the two series will give Iyer an opportunity to reflect on the direction in which he wants to take the side and understand what he requires from his players and support staff.

“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,” Nayar told Jio Hotstar.

“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,” he added.

Nayar stressed that Iyer must be given ownership of the side before his leadership can be properly assessed, citing the examples of Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, 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.

“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,” he added.