The Rise of Shreyas Iyer: Silenced the critics and became the new ‘Boss’ of the Indian T20 team, know why Gambhir and Ponting are fans

Bengaluru: Handing over the command of Suryakumar Yadav to Shreyas Iyer in place of Suryakumar Yadav in the Indian T20 cricket team is not just a normal leadership change, but it is the trumpet of the great comeback of a player who turned adverse circumstances with his stubbornness. The ups and downs that Shreyas Iyer has seen in his career between December 2023 and June 2026 are no less than a cinematic story. Returning straight as the captain of the country after being away from the shorter format for almost 30 months is one of the most astonishing events in the history of Indian cricket.

From the bitterness of losing the contract to the praise of Ponting

The beginning of the year 2024 was like a nightmare for Iyer. BCCI had canceled his central contract due to not playing domestic cricket. After this, he was also left out of the team of two T20 World Cups and Asia Cup. But instead of venting out his anger on social media, the 31-year-old batsman quietly worked on his injury and technique.

His hard work first got its wings when he made KKR the IPL champion under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir. After this, while playing for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 and 2026, he silenced the critics by scoring 604 and 498 runs respectively at an average of more than 50. Veteran Ricky Ponting also admitted that Iyer is currently in the most mature phase of his career.

Improvement in technology gave edge to Sanju-Ishaan

Iyer was always excellent against spinners, but in the last two years he has turned his weakness into a strength against fast bowlers. The effective ‘pull shot’ attached to his quiver is proof of this.

This consistency took him to the forefront in the race against contenders like Sanju Samson (unstable performance) and Ishan Kishan or Tilak Verma (lack of leadership experience). Chief coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have expressed confidence in his mental strength.

Crown of Thorns and the legacy of Rohit-Surya

Leading the Indian team is a much more stressful job than managing an IPL franchise. The challenge before Shreyas is big because just before him, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav had made India the T20 world champion. In such a situation, the expectations of the fans will be sky high.

The matter of relief is that after the upcoming Ireland and England tour, there is no major T20 tournament in the near future, as the entire focus will be on next year’s ODI World Cup. This will give Iyer enough time to prepare his favorite team for the 2028 T20 World Cup. It will be interesting to see to what heights the calm nature of Iyer, who lives in the present regardless of victory or defeat, takes Team India in this new era.