Shreyas Iyer-Shubman Gill 'fight' speculated as Gambhir's favouritism laid bare: 'When KKR won, PR ran in such a way...'

Despite BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia dismissing rumours that Shreyas Iyer has been identified as the next India ODI captain after Rohit Sharma, the India star's name has emerged again, with former cricketer Manoj Tiwary backing him to take over the mantle. However, he speculated that there will be a "fight" with Shubman Gill for the role, especially with the latter having head coach Gautam Gambhir's backing. Shubman Gill or Shreyas Iyer - who will be the next India ODI captain?

Iyer has largely flown under the radar as a potential option to lead India in white-ball cricket despite having shown early signs of leadership. He has been regularly leading Mumbai in domestic competitions like the Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy since 2018 and also captained India A on multiple occasions under Rahul Dravid’s coaching setup. His stocks rose further after he led three different IPL franchises to the final in successive seasons — KKR to a title in 2024 and Punjab Kings in 2025. Notably, he had earlier taken Delhi Capitals to the IPL 2020 final, making him the only skipper in history to achieve this unique three-peat.

But more than the numbers, it has been his captaincy style and approach that impressed Tiwary. Speaking in an interview with Crictracker, he said: “After Rohit Sharma, obviously, I would say Shreyas Iyer, because the way he has led, wherever he has led in franchise cricket, I have not seen him in first-class cricket, but he has also won a trophy for Mumbai in domestic cricket as well.

“But when I was doing commentary, I observed the evolution of Shreyas Iyer as a captain. He is one of those who lead from the front, he scores a lot of runs, and he makes great decisions on the field, which is a must for a good captain. He has done that successfully, as we saw during his KKR tenure.”

The former India batter further said that Iyer should have received more credit for winning the IPL title with KKR, but accused PR of shifting the narrative and attributing the success to Gambhir, who had joined the franchise as a mentor that season. It was Gambhir's only year in that role for KKR, before he took over as India’s head coach two months later.

“In 2024, KKR emerged as champions under his captaincy, but he didn’t get the credit he deserved. The PR machinery worked in such a way that the credit was given to only one individual in the team. I felt he should also have got recognition, along with Chandrakant Pandit and Bharat Arun. They were the supporting staff, while he was the leader making the calls on the field,” Tiwary added.

Talking about the Indian team, Tiwary reckoned that Iyer has the potential to lead the side for a long period, but is likely to face stiff competition from Gill, who has Gambhir’s backing.

“I feel Shreyas Iyer will eventually lead Team India, and he will lead for a long period of time. But at the same time, he will be fighting this captaincy battle with Shubman Gill because the current coach, Gautam Gambhir, likes Shubman Gill more than Shreyas Iyer. So there will be a fight. But let’s see what the future unfolds for all of us.”

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