Former Indian batter Ajay Jadeja has opined that Shreyas Iyer leads the team the way he wants. Iyer led India to a 3-2 series win against New Zealand in the five-match series. India recently played a 2-2 draw against the West Indies while playing at home and thus the series win against the Kiwis was a crucial one for Iyer.
Meanwhile, Iyer scored 126 runs in five games of the series at an average of 25.20 and a strike rate of 151.81.
The Indian captain scored a crucial knock of 42 runs off 28 balls in the series opener at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch. However, he failed to deliver in the next three games and then scored 50 runs off 23 balls in the final T20I at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Sunday.
“I think Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy has been consistent since the time I have seen him. He is a confident, young captain. He does what he likes. He even tried a little today,” Ajay Jadeja said on SonyLiv.
Jadeja highlighted that Iyer didn’t have much scope to show his captaincy skills as India lacked bowling depth.
“He tried to make changes in the bowling differently when he had five pure bowlers. However, until you play five bowlers, what decision can a captain make? He doesn’t have choices at all,” he observed.
The former Indian skipper noted that India team management’s tendency to play more all-rounders ahead of specialist bowlers has its pros and cons.
“Our thought process is that we are going more towards all-rounders. That’s a double-edged sword. The day you have to bat first, it’s a loss, which we got to see in the last match. However, if you bat second – you chased 225 in the first match – it goes in your favor. It’s a policy decision or a difference in the team’s thought process. There is no right or wrong in that,” he said.
India will next take on New Zealand in a five-match ODI series, starting Wednesday.
