India’s lack of success on their T20I tour of the United Kingdom has raised plenty of questions about the credentials of captain Shreyas Iyer, with pundits questioning his leadership after losses to both Ireland and England.
Iyer has suffered a 0-2 series defeat in Ireland and a 4-0 whitewash against England, meaning that his captaincy is now being questioned by the BCCI.
However, former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has said that he would not want to see Shreyas Iyer replaced by his opposite number after only one overseas tour.
Speaking to JioHotstar, Nayar said, “When you appoint a new captain, he should be given time and space to build his team in his image.”
‘Don’t judge him before he gets ownership, says Abhishek Nayar
Nayar noted that Iyer had the unenviable task of inheriting a World Cup-winning team while also getting his own T20I career back on track, which made his first assignment as captain particularly challenging.
“You give him the responsibility of taking over from the champions, but also give him the freedom to pick his own team,” said Abhishek Nayar.
“The first time you become captain, you don’t have the freedom to say, ‘this is what I want to do with the team,’ you have to first deal with the team and then figure out for yourself what you want to achieve with them. Now, after these two series, he will have the opportunity to think about what he wants from this team, how he wants them to play, and what he wants from his support staff.
Nayar argued that it would be unreasonable to criticize Iyer’s judgment as captain so soon, especially given his strong record in limited-overs franchise cricket, where he had led his team to two successive IPL finals, winning one.
“It’s been a tremendously difficult series, and while Shreyas Iyer could certainly be criticized, the more sensible approach would be to recognize what he needs from this team. Give him the confidence to feel like this is his team, as Harry Brook does with England, Ben Stokes does with the England Test, or like Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli did with the Test team.
Nayar also noted that ODI captain Shubman Gill had struggled through a poor start to his captaincy before eventually settling into the job.
“As you grow into the role, you’ll gain confidence in your leadership and the type of team you want to lead,” he said.
“It’s still early days, so let’s not panic, but there must be clarity on where we want this team to go.”
Also read: England Complete 4-0 Sweep as India Return Winless From UK Tour, Lose No.1 T20I Ranking
England exposed India’s biggest weakness
Abhishek Nayar said that the tour was a learning one for India, but pointed to the team’s inability to deal with England’s persistent short-pitched bowling as the key factor. “England came prepared with a specific idea to hit us on the short ball, and India did not deal with it well. It’s one of those things when you don’t know how to deal with it, so you can’t get going.
“It’s unusual to see in a T20 series that teams kept hitting you on the short ball, and almost every batter faced that. England came prepared, and India did not adjust well to it. It shows that England was better prepared than us and, more importantly, that we didn’t adapt well enough.”
Despite the drubbing, Nayar remained positive about the tour as a learning curve for the batting group ahead of the global events in 2021. “I think Australia will be much better for us as the ball will come onto the bat.
“This tour is a wake-up call, and come the World Cup, you’ll see a much better-equipped bunch as a lot of batters will go back and work on their game to deal with the short ball.”
Abhishek Nayar also urged the BCCI and India’s management not to panic from the disappointment of this tour.
They should create direction rather than chaos and give the players the space they need to thrive, rather than remove them from the set-up when they’re not at their best.
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“The management shouldn’t panic about the results and make knee-jerk reactions. It’s about handing the batters direction and allowing them to grow rather than removing them when they’re not performing. A player like Axar Patel, for instance, does very well because of the drift he gets on the ball, but T20 cricket is a game of rhythm, and if you’re not seeing that drift, it’s either down to his action or the workload. about being patient with the players.”
Abhishek Nayar further asked the selectors to be patient with the spinners as Kuldeep has been coming in and out of the side, and Varun Chakravarthy has had to miss a lot of games due to injury. “Sairaj (Bahutule) and the staff have to work with the existing spin-bowl attack with an eye on the future rather than cutting them adrift and moving on. Tell them what you want them to do and what they’re not doing well.”
Nayar ended with a message to the selectors and management about how they should act in the wake of the hammering in England. “When you’re losing, you have to create direction rather than chaos.”
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