Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy under scrutiny: The India captain has to fight with the bat too

Shreyas Iyer knows how to win as a captain. He has an IPL title with the Kolkata Knight Riders, led the Punjab Kings to the final and has earned a reputation for bringing out the best in his teams when the stakes are high. When India handed him the T20I captaincy, many expected his franchise success to translate to the national set-up. But India’s premiership has tested him in a way the IPL has not, and questions are starting to mount.

The 87-run defeat to New Zealand in Auckland was another tough night for Iyer. India had already won the first three matches to clinch the series, but the fourth T20I exposed the problems that have plagued the side in recent months. New Zealand smashed 259 for 7 with Glenn Phillips scoring 107 off 49 balls and Michael Bracewell adding 65 for just 25. India were bowled out for 172 in reply.

Iyer could do little to stop New Zealand’s onslaught. His bowlers struggled to find the right lengths, the middle overs disappeared and the opposition ended up with a total that was always going to be difficult to chase down. He managed 22 off 11 balls with the bat before being bowled by Adam Milne. India have already lost Sanja Samson and Ishan Kishan in the opener, followed by Abhishek Sharma. The captain had to stay in the crease and give some direction to the chase. Another goal fell instead. Courtesy: AFP

The series belonged to India but the manner of defeat was hard to ignore. It was their second biggest loss by runs in men’s T20I cricket after the 125-run defeat by England in Nottingham earlier this year. For Iyer, the match presented two vexing issues: his handling of the bowling attack and his own inability to produce runs consistently.

INDIAN CAPTAIN’S MIXED START

Iyer’s first few months as India’s T20I captain have been a tale of sharp ups and downs. His team lost 2-0 in Ireland and then suffered a 4-0 defeat in England, with one game over. He went winless in his first seven T20Is, losing six and ending one without a result. It was hardly a start from a captain who arrived with such an impressive record in franchise cricket.

A response came. India swept Zimbabwe and Afghanistan 3-0 to beat Japan in a one-off T20I to retain the Asian Games gold medal. They then drew the five-match series against the West Indies 2–2, with one match being dropped. The first three wins against New Zealand gave Iyer another series win before the defeat in Auckland brought back control.

After the fourth match against New Zealand, Iyer’s record stood at 14 wins, nine losses and two no-outs in 25 T20Is. These numbers show that he has had success and it would be unfair to judge his captaincy solely on defeats. But the tough losses exposed problems that winning the series can’t make go away. India are giving away too many runs and their captain has not always found answers when the opposition batsmen have taken control. Courtesy: AFP

KAIF’S WARNING: IYER MUST LEARN

Mohammad Kaif has seen enough to believe that Iyer needs to rethink the way he uses his bowlers. The former India batsman’s criticism is not about one poor night in Auckland. He believes there is a recurring pattern in Iyer’s bowling changes, especially when it comes to managing his specialist options.

“Absolutely. Shreyas Iyer must learn from this,” Kaif said.

He pointed to instances where Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar completed three overs each with six overs still left in the innings. Arshdeep is India’s left-arm specialist at the death, while Bhuvneshwar has experience handling both the new ball and the final overs. Kaif felt that Iyer should save his overs for the stages when the batsmen are about to attack.

“You generally want to keep your main bowlers for the 17th and 19th overs. That’s the basic formula in T20 cricket,” he said.

Kaif also questioned the responsibility being placed on Nitish Kumar Reddy. He believes the all-rounder should be used as a fifth or sixth bowling option, with his overs completed in the middle stages, rather than being expected to do the work of a front-line bowler.

“I also noticed some flaws in Iyer’s captaincy, especially in his bowling changes and deciding which player should bowl at which stage,” Kaif said. “And I’m not just talking about one loss. It’s a recurring pattern. Teams against us regularly score 200, 225 and even 250.”

The numbers hardly refute this concern. Before 2026, India had never conceded 250 or more in a men’s T20I. Under Iyer, they allowed three such totals in four months: England reached 257 for 3 at Southampton, West Indies 252 for 4 at Ranchi and New Zealand reached 259 for 7 at Auckland.

It would be wrong to put every expensive charm on the captain’s door. Indian bowlers also struggled with execution. In Auckland, Nitish conceded 64 runs in four overs while Phillips and Bracewell added 115 in 41 balls. New Zealand scored 146 in the last nine overs with India’s attack unable to stem the flow of boundaries. Arshdeep was the only Indian bowler to offer some control.

Kaif also raised the issue of changes around Arshdeep. Mayank Yadav returned after missing the match, Bhuvneshwar was brought back into the team and Prince Yadav got an opportunity. Arshdeep has remained a constant, but the combinations around him have changed. Kaif believes that the constant rotation could be one of the reasons why India have struggled to control the rate of scoring.

His criticism extends to Iyer’s IPL captaincy as well. Kaif claimed that Iyer’s bowlers had conceded 200 or more nine times in the tournament. The number has to be seen in context, but it reflects the larger concern he raised: Iyer needs to improve in reading the game and understanding which bowler can be trusted at a particular stage.

102 AGAINST WEST INDIES FEELS TOO LONG

The other part of Iyer’s problem is that the runs have not come often enough. His unbeaten 102 against West Indies in Lucknow on October 6 was a statement of intent. He scored his first T20I century in 42 balls, hitting 10 fours and six sixes and finished unbeaten on 102 off 43 deliveries. Chasing 172 in 17.3 overs, India won by eight wickets.

It was the kind of innings that could have given Iyer a platform for the rest of the series. Instead, his next eight outings told a very different story. He scored 40, 1, 16, 22, 42, 7, 5 and 22, adding up to 155 runs at an average of 19.37. There was no half-century in this stretch. Courtesy: PTI

A strike rate of 147.61 shows that Iyer has not stopped attacking. But the bigger issue is how quickly his innings ended. His 42 against New Zealand in the opening match offered some encouragement. The scores of 7, 5 and 22 that followed did not. In Auckland, where India had lost three wickets earlier, he had a chance to hold the innings together. He scored at a brisk pace but was sent off before the end of the power play.

Iyer’s 2026 totals are more respectable than the recent run suggests. He has scored 666 runs in 25 T20Is at an average of 31.71 and a strike rate of 149. He has 1770 runs in 76 matches in his T20I career, including one century and 10 half-centuries. There is enough in that record to show he can be a valuable batsman. But India need the player who scored that hundred in Lucknow to turn up more regularly, not just for one innings every few weeks.

The middle order is where India need someone to take the lead when the top order fails. A quick start is useful, but a captain batting at No. 3 or in the middle order also needs to judge when the team needs an attacking innings and when they need someone to stay put. Iyer has a chance to change the game. What India have lacked is the consistency to make those shots count for longer.

THE PLACE OF THE CAPTAIN CANNOT BE GUARANTEED

Iyer’s achievements in the IPL field explain why India chose him. They don’t mean he should be judged by any different standards than the rest of the team. Suryakumar Yadav’s time as captain has shown that management results alone cannot resolve questions about a player’s placement when his batting form is under scrutiny. Iyer will face the same expectations.

There is no need to write it off after a difficult section. He has been given the opportunity, has experience of leading successful teams and has already produced an innings of the highest quality against the West Indies. But the responsibility that comes with captaincy also brings greater scrutiny. India cannot afford their captain to struggle with the bat while the bowling attack repeatedly loses control of the matches.

Iyer now has two jobs. He needs to show that he can make better use of his bowlers when the opposition starts to attack and he needs to give India more than occasional bursts of batting. The team supported him as captain. They also need runs and the decisions that come with it.

– The end