‘He was touted to become the next skipper’: Ajay Jadeja backs Shreyas Iyer for India captaincy

“It’s not just once, but Shreyas Iyer has done it twice-thrice in fact. Once he came back from injury, then he was struggling against the short-pitch bowling and he has worked to overcome it,” Jadeja said on Sony Sports Network.

“So when you learn to overcome one obstacle, you can put behind the others too. Let’s hope. Because 2-3 years ago, he was tipped as the next Indian captain. Now it’s a different scenario altogether with as many as 12 captains in Indian cricket, but he was touted to become the next skipper,” he added.

Going past Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill, Iyer has become India’s top scorer in ODIs. The right-hand batsman has registered 724 runs from 17 matches under his name. Not only this, he has decent red-ball figures too, scoring 422 runs in 5 matches, he averaged 60.28.

Speaking about his consistency, Jadeja also said, “He has scored runs consistently. He is averaging 60-70 this year in Test cricket and the temperament he showed on Day 4 was spectacular.”

“If look at that partnership carefully, Ashwin faced more balls and scored more runs, so he realised that just because he was the last recognised specialist batter, he only has to get the job done. And then the calmness he showed… it’s one thing to say ‘I love pressure situations. I thrive there’, but to do it is something else. For me, temperament has always held more significance than skills and ability because good temperament allows you to deliver and do justice to that skills,” he added.