Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons Shubman Gill has better credentials than Shreyas Iyer after the selectors decided to appoint the latter as India’s T20I captain. In a shocking and bold move, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel decided to drop Suryakumar Yadav from the T20I team despite him leading India to T20 World Cup glory.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill was India’s vice-captain in T20Is in 2025 but was dropped from the T20 World Cup squad due to poor form. Gill made a roaring comeback in IPL 2026, scoring 732 runs in 17 games and leading Gujarat Titans to the final of the tournament.
On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to glory in IPL 2024 whereas he shepherded Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings to the final of the competition in 2020 and 2025 respectively.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on Sony Sports, “Shreyas Iyer is a very interesting choice. He wasn’t able to get a place in the T20 squad for the last few months. But now, straightaway, India’s T20 captain. When you pick a player or make him the captain or vice captain, you’ve got to also make sure that that player fits into the squad and has a confirmed place in the squad, and that is where I think Shubman Gill has missed out because I think Gill has better credentials than Shreyas Iyer to be India’s long-term T20 captain.”
Manjrekar reckons the selectors have backed a captain, who they think can fit into the playing XI. The cricket analyst said Gill would not have been able to make a place for himself as Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are doing a decent job, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi waiting in the wings.
“How do you fit Gill in the playing 11 because you’ve got two openers already doing so well with Sooryavanshi as your third option? So they’ve gone for a captain who they could fit in the playing 11. Because Gill is an opening batter, he lost out on that opportunity or that appointment, but his time is not too far,” said Manjrekar (via the aforementioned source).
Gill scored a fine knock of 126 in the ongoing Test match against Afghanistan.
