Shreyas Iyer had to wait for his time, but it has indeed come sooner rather than later. The right-handed batter replaced Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain earlier this year; however, his first match in charge didn’t go according to plan as the Men in Blue went down by 34 runs against Ireland in the first T20I of the two-match series in Belfast on Friday. Iyer, who wasn’t a part of the T20 World Cup 2026-winning squad, played his first T20I for India on Friday after a gap of two years.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan recently weighed in on the appointment of Shreyas as the skipper, saying he thought Ricky Ponting would become India coach when he first heard about Iyer’s elevation in the T20I setup.
Vaughan then spoke about the formidable pair Shreyas and Ponting have formed over the years in the IPL. The two are currently involved with the Punjab Kings, with Shreyas as captain and Ponting as coach. The duo had earlier worked in unison at the Delhi Capitals as well.
The former England skipper also talked about India’s bench strength right now and how few teams would be able to drop their T20 World Cup-winning captain. Suryakumar Yadav was axed as captain after a poor run of form in international and IPL cricket and was replaced by Shreyas.
“When I heard it for the first time, I presumed Ricky Ponting would be the coach. Those two come as a pair. He is a very good captain, very good player, and that tells you how much depth and strength you have in Indian cricket, particularly in T20, when you are dropping the captain who just lifted the T20 World Cup. I’m not sure that would happen in any other country,” Vaughan said on Ajinkya Rahane’s YouTube channel.
‘India favourites’
Vaughan, who led England to the Ashes win in 2005, said that India are favourites for the upcoming five T20Is against England, beginning July 1. He also added that the Harry Brook-led side would be required to play out of their skin to defeat India in the five-match series.
“Great opportunity for Iyer, a couple of years away from the next T20 World Cup. He’ll know he’s got a wonderful team to work with in the England tour, and you have got to say that India are going to be favourites for the series; they always are, they are the best team in the world. England will have to produce some good cricket to compete with them,” Vaughan said.
Before the England series, India would hope to end the Ireland tour on a high and level the two-match series in the second T20I on Sunday in Belfast.
