"Gautam Gambhir Likes Shubman Gill More Than Shreyas Iyer": Ex KKR Star Predicts 'Fight'

The entire country was left in shock after star batter Shreyas Iyer failed to make it to India's Asia Cup squad. Led by Suryakumar Yadav, Team India's 15-member squad also featured young Shubman Gill, who was also named as the vice captain. Recently, a report emerged stating that the selectors are looking to appoint Iyer as India's ODI captain, after the retirement of Rohit Sharma. Former India batter Manoj Tiwary also backed Iyer as the perfect person for the captain's role.

Iyer impressed everyone with his brilliant captaincy in the IPL after he led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in 2024 and took Punjab Kings to the final in 2025.

"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," Tiwary said on CricTracker.

"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," he added.

The former batter further stated that due to the PR, the credit of winning the IPL 2024 went only to their then-mentor Gautam Gambhir and Iyer was brutally ignored. He also claimed that Gambhir prefers Shubman Gill more than Iyer. 

"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 said.

"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," he added.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Shreyas Iyer Gautam Gambhir Manoj Tiwary Asia Cup 2025 Cricket