'Shreyas Iyer was groomed as India captain after Rohit Sharma, not Hardik Pandya or Jadeja': Ex-BCCI chief selector

Shreyas Iyer was being groomed as the next Indian captain after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, said former BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad. Iyer, a regular in all three formats not too long ago, is going through a challenging phase after losing his central contract for 2024-25 for not playing in the Ranji Trophy despite the board's orders. The talented right-hander has not been at his absolute best with the bat in IPL 2024 either, having scored 257 runs in 10 matches. But his captaincy has been superb. Kolkata Knight Riders sit at No.2 in the IPL points table with seven wins in 10 matches and stand a good chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

Kolkata Knight Riders' captain Shreyas Iyer(AFP)

Prasad said Iyer was groomed for the leadership role, unlike Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja. He has a better chance of succeeding at the highest level when he gets the opportunity.

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"Shreyas Iyer, unlike Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja has been groomed (as a captain). He has come through a system," Prasad told Rev Sports.

The former India keeper-batter said Iyer was ahead of Rishabh Pant when the selection committee looked at options to prepare for the post-Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma era. Prasad said Iyer had a pretty good record while captaining India A.

"If you go back to the stats, in the last two years, when we were at the helm, Shreyas Iyer led the side (India A). I think out of 10 series that India A played, we won 8. In the majority of those series, Shreyas led the side. He has been in and around as captain. He has been groomed for that particular slot. We felt that post Virat, post Rohit Sharma, you needed someone to lead the side that's when we started thinking about Shreyas Iyer or Rishabh Pant. But even ahead of Pant was Iyer as a captain," he added.

Iyer first big leadership exposure came in 2018 when Gautam Gambhir quit as the Delhi Capitals captain midway through the season and handed over the reins to a young Iyer. Prasad said Iyer was fortunate to start his leadership career under Ricky Ponting, who was the head coach of DC. "He was fortunate enough to get to lead Delhi Capitals under Ricky Ponting. The grooming process began there. It was unfortunate that DC could not hang on to Iyer as Rishabh stepped into his shoes and did reasonably well. The best part was that he moved away from DC so that KKR could give him captaincy responsibility."

After a shoulder injury in early 2021, the right-hander couldn't take part in the first leg of IPL 2021 and eventually lost the captaincy to Rishabh Pant for the whole season. He was released and picked up by KKR in the mega auction ahead of IPL 2022. Prasad said Iyer has shown signs of maturing into a very good leader.

"He is slowly maturing into a very good leader. It's very important at the start of your captaincy career to have a good team management. That's what he's getting from KKR. He is young, and they are going to invest in him. In the next two or three years, we will see Shreyas evolve into a wonderful captain."