In a sharp critique of India’s latest leadership appointment, former international batter Sanjay Manjrekar stated that Shubman Gill possesses superior credentials compared to Shreyas Iyer to lead the national T20I side. This assessment follows the official announcement by chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Saturday, confirming the 31 year old Iyer as the new T20I skipper for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England. The leadership transition comes as Suryakumar Yadav, who previously captained India to a T20 World Cup victory, was dropped from the squad due to a prolonged dip in batting form.

Shreyas has been in remarkable touch of late, scoring close to 500 runs in the IPL 2026 season for the Punjab Kings. He first led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title in 2024, forming a formidable partnership with then mentor Gautam Gambhir. The following year, he scored 604 runs and led the Punjab Kings to the final of the competition.

The 2026 season was a minor blip for Shreyas, as PBKS failed to reach the playoffs. On the other hand, Gill (732 runs) led the Gujarat Titans to the final and finished as the second highest run getter, only behind Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (776).

Manjrekar backs Gill

Manjrekar believes that since the T20 World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand next, Gill should be looked at, as he has the technique of succeeding all around the world.

“Shreyas Iyer is a very interesting choice. He wasn’t able to get a place in the T20 squad for the last few months. But now, straightaway, India’s T20 captain. When you pick a player or make him the captain or vice captain you’ve got to also make sure that that player fits into the squad and has got a confirmed place in the squad and that is where I think should been Shubman Gil has missed out because I think Gill has better credentials than Shreyas Iyer to be India’s long-term T20 captain,” Manjrekar said on the Sony Sports Network shortly after the squad was announced.

“T20S will now be played away from India, Ireland, England, two venues and eventually the World Cup will be in Australia and New Zealand, and I believe Gill was better suited to take that responsibility, but that’s only a cricketing thought. But how do you fit Gill in the playing 11 because you’ve got two openers already doing so well with Sooryavanshi as your third option? So they’ve gone for a captain who they could fit in the playing 11. Because Gill is an opening batter, he lost out on that opportunity or that appointment, but his time is not too far,” he added.

Shreyas’ rise
The last three years have been marked by several ups and downs for Shreyas. The batter who last played a T20I for India in 2023, was also removed from the central contracts list in 2024 after he didn’t turn up for Mumbai for the Ranji Trophy. However, he has earned his place back through grind in domestic cricket and the IPL. He was also India’s MVP in the Champions Trophy win in 2025.

“His career has gone through some ups and downs. There was a time when he was denied the BCCI contract as an Indian player because the selectors felt that he was not prioritising domestic cricket, and his priorities weren’t the way the selectors wanted it to be and after that, but that happened it was something that he took to heart and immediately post that, you saw his tremendous performance when he came back into the Indian ODI squad. I thought he played superbly. Had a great IPL season for his franchise last season, and I thought his batting form was greater last season as opposed to this season,” said Manjrekar.

“When you look at Shreyas Iyer, he’s got the numbers. He’s got the leadership and performance. So, yes, a guy who’s been picked because he bats in the middle order, and you can have a place for Shreyas Iyer in the future with the next World Cup. With Shubman Gill, that is what actually weakened this case, but on pure ability, I will say that I like Shubman Gill more as a captain and a T20 top-order batter. Considering that the T20S will not be played on flat pitches anymore, like you’ve seen at the last in a couple of years,” he added.