Shubman Gill being made the new ODI captain may have been the headline of India’s squad announcement for their upcoming limited-overs tour of Australia but another significant aspect of it was Shreyas Iyer being made vice-captain. Iyer had already been a regular in the ODI squad but his elevation to being Gill’s deputy indicates the the team management deciding to give him a sense of permanence in the format.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh said that he is happy with Iyer being given the added responsibility. “I’m very happy for Shreyas Iyer,” said Harbhajan on JioHotstar.
“He’s one of those guys who hardly gets the credit he deserves. We talk about that World Cup in India, he scored back-to-back centuries, and with what pace! He’s an impact player; when he gets going, he makes things easy for the dressing room and the other batters. I’m very happy that he’s back in the scheme of things, not just as a player but with a bigger responsibility as vice-captain. I’m looking forward to seeing him back and to see what he brings to the table in terms of ideas and how he and Shubman Gill take this team forward.”
Iyer had said after a match-winning performance in India’s first ODI against in February this year that he wasn’t supposed to play that game, with Virat Kohli set to take his place. Kohli had pulled out of the game with a sore knee, leading to Iyer taking his place. The fact that this match came close on the heels of Iyer’s stellar performance in the 2023 World Cup and in the matches leading up to the tournament only added to the surprise with which his revelation was met.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma, who Gill replaced as captain, and Virat Kohli, under whom the latter had started his international career, are both in the squad for the upcoming three-match series in Australia. India’s tour Down Under starts with on October 19 with the three-match ODI series. The subsequent five-match T20I series will then start on October 29 and end on November 8.
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