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India's fast bowler Sandeep Sharma has dismissed the idea that Shreyas Iyer could take over as captain of the T20I team from Suryakumar Yadav due to Iyer's recent performance leading IPL teams. Iyer has guided two different franchises, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, to the finals in consecutive IPL seasons, winning the championship with KKR last year. Before that, he also captained Delhi Capitals when they reached their first IPL final in 2020, where they finished second. Additionally, Iyer had an impressive IPL 2025 season, scoring more than 600 runs at an exceptional strike rate of 175.07.
However, despite his achievements, Iyer was not selected for India's squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, which will be held in a T20I format this year in the UAE. “Look, the argument that he (Iyer) led his team to the finals as a captain doesn't make sense," Sandeep was quoted by Crictracker. “Surya isn't the captain of any team. That shouldn't be a reason to make someone the captain of the Indian team. In the last three years, Rohit wasn’t the captain of any team either, yet he was still the captain of the T20 Indian team and remains captain for one-day matches too. He has been the captain across all three formats of Test cricket. Therefore, what you do in IPL isn’t a valid reason." Sandeep, who played two T20Is for India in July 2015, stresses that IPL should be seen as merely a local tournament, and one shouldn't compare leading a franchise to managing an international cricket team.
“IPL is completely distinct. It is a local league. Just like BCCI has its own local league, right? When selecting a national team, you're choosing 15 individuals. You select a captain who can better manage those 15 players. In the IPL, you have many local players and plenty of young talent, with some coming from other countries. But the focus is on finding someone who can handle 15 players more effectively," Sandeep, who has played for three different IPL teams in his career, explained. “So I believe this discussion about what Iyer does in IPL is pointless. These two teams are entirely different. The Indian team is not the same as the IPL team. Therefore, I think people need to educate themselves and understand this better before they speak," he added.
