Sunil Gavaskar brushes away talks of Shreyas Iyer as India captain, says we need to back Shubman Gill

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has brushed aside talks of Shreyas Iyer becoming India’s next captain after his impressive performances in IPL 2025. Iyer led PBKS to the final of the tournament as he led from the front. The PBKS captain amassed 604 runs in 17 matches at an average of 50.33 in IPL 2025.

Iyer impressed one and all with his leadership but Gavaskar said we should not create any undue pressure on Shubman Gill, who has been appointed as the team’s new Test captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement.

Meanwhile, Iyer has not been picked in India’s 18-man squad for the England tour, where the visitors would play five Test matches.

“If he is worthy of being the captain or not, we first need to look at Shubman Gill, who is the Test captain. We need to give him opportunities. If we talk about such things, then we are creating undue pressure on Shubman Gill,” Gavaskar said on Sports Tak.

“There is no need to create pressure on Shubman Gill before the England tour. You first need to realise that Shreyas Iyer is not even in the Indian team. There should be no talk about him being made the next Indian captain,” he added.

Gavaskar, the former Indian Test opener, said Gill should be given his opportunities to prove his mettle before we judge him as a leader. 

“When he makes a return to the side then you can have a look at whether he can be made the captain or not. We need to show tremendous confidence in Shubman Gill, who has just been made the Test captain. He is our India captain,” said Gavaskar.

“You shouldn’t create doubts in his mind, there should be no pressure on him. You shouldn’t create pressure, saying, ‘Oh look, there is Shreyas Iyer’,” he added.

Gill recently led Gujarat Titans to the playoffs but his team was knocked out by Mumbai Indians in the eliminator contest.