Shreyas Iyer is one of the frontrunners to replace Rohit Sharma as the next ODI captain.
Shreyas Iyer is one of the most sought-after batters in Indian cricket, and yet he often struggles to find a regular spot in the playing XI. Earlier this year, Shreyas was named in the playing XI for the first ODI against England because Virat Kohli had sustained a swollen knee. The 30-year-old has since revived his India career in the 50-over format. He aggregated 211 runs from three matches against England, including two fifties.
He then followed it up with an excellent Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, wherein he scored 243 runs from five matches at an average of 48.60. This included just two fifties. But most importantly, the Mumbai batter was consistent throughout most of India’s matches, barring their tournament opener against Bangladesh, wherein he scored just 15 runs.
Post the Champions Trophy, Shreyas went on to lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final, where they agonisingly fell short to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
His recent captaincy exploits include the IPL 2024 title for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and powering Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025. This has seen him emerge as a frontrunner for the India ODI captaincy job. That is, of course, only after Rohit Sharma, the current ODI skipper, retires from the 50-over format or if he decides to relinquish his captaincy.
But Shreyas Iyer as India’s next ODI captain may not be a bad idea. He is at the peak of his cricketing career. Add to the fact that his tactical brilliance is something that will help the Indian cricket team in the long term. At both Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals (DC) before that, Shreyas got the opportunity to work with the legendary Australia World Cup-winning captain, Ricky Ponting.
The two have formed an unbreakable bond over the years, which shows that should Shreyas has the right people around him who can support him, there’s no reason why he can’t become the next India ODI captain.
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Shreyas’ calm and cool nature is reminiscent of MS Dhoni. While nobody might come close to Dhoni in terms of leadership, one thing that is similar between the two is that both leaders back and believe in their players. So much so that Shreyas put faith in six uncapped players as Punjab Kings defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2025.
Furthermore, it was only two weeks ago when Shreyas led SoBo Mumbai Falcons to the Mumbai T20 League 2025 Final. His team, however, lost to the Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals.
So, all in all, signs look promising for Shreyas Iyer, the skipper. But the biggest question that remains. Will Shreyas be the right choice to lead India in ODIs after Rohit Sharma?
Shreyas enjoyed an impressive run in IPL 2025, scoring 604 runs from 17 matches at a strike-rate of 175.07, including six fifties. While it might be difficult for the right-handed batter to make a return to the 20-over format, it’s not entirely impossible. Shreyas could be an ideal option at the No.3 spot.
During IPL 2025, Iyer batted one down in 10 of the 17 matches. He scored 360 runs at a strike-rate of 180.90. Four of his six half-centuries in IPL 2025 came while batting at number three. The numbers speak for themselves, but at this time, it’s difficult to ignore Tilak Varma too.
The Mumbai Indians batter slammed two unbeaten centuries during the away T20I series against South Africa last year. But he endured a mediocre outing against England at home this year, aggregating 42 runs from three matches.
If Shreyas is to make it to the T20I squad, he has to board the flight for the Australia tour. This way, the team management gets enough time to make a sound decision ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Shreyas Iyer last played a Test for India in February 2024 against England. One of the major reasons for his omission from the Test squad has been his struggles with the short balls. Additionally, the large talent pool has added to the immense competition for the middle-order spots.
Rishabh Pant has returned to the lineup. During the Headingley Test, he became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a century in both innings of this format. The arrival of talented youngsters like Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, as well as the return of Karun Nair, has led to Shreyas going down the pecking order.
For now, the best that Shreyas can do is not think too much about T20I and Test returns. He can continue to focus on improving his batting. As far as the captaincy is concerned, the Mumbai batter has done his bit at the domestic and franchise level.
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