Former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim believes Shreyas Iyer needs to stamp his authority as captain in international cricket and translate the tactical acumen he has displayed in the IPL into the national side. Iyer, who took over as the captaincy from Suryakumar Yadav following the T20 World Cup win, has remained winless as India suffered a 0-2 defeat against Ireland and then lost the last three T20I against England to concede a 0-3 lead with the first game being washed out. “I feel the time has come for Shreyas Iyer to assert himself as a captain. The tactical captaincy we have seen from him in the IPL has not yet been visible in international cricket,” Karim said on JioHotstar.
“For example, when he was batting in the middle, Shivam Dube came in at number five, I didn’t understand that decision. That is not the Shreyas Iyer we know from the IPL. Logically, if he were captaining in the IPL right now, Tilak Varma would have walked in at number five instead of Shivam Dube.
“Also, when you are batting in the middle as a captain, the messages you send to your partner are very important. Maybe it will take time for him to grow into the role.” The former wicketkeeper said Iyer’s form with the bat was a big positive and it will help him in leadership as well.
“But the biggest positive is that he scored runs with the bat. That gives a captain a lot of confidence. When your own performance is good, the captaincy automatically improves. I hope we will see that in the coming matches. I want him to create his own identity. He is ready for it. Now is the time to do it.” Karim feels India needs a right-hander in the playing XI for the fifth T20I and favoured Sanju Samson and Suryansh Shedge.
“I am hoping to see a change in the combination. India needs a right-handed batter in the middle order, and Sanju Samson is the only viable option right now. To break the chain of left-handers, you need a mature, experienced right-hand batter, and there is no better choice than Sanju. The question is who makes way for him.
“If the team management persists with Tilak Varma, then the only option is to replace Shivam Dube with Sanju Samson. That would make the batting deeper and more solid. I also expect another change,” he said.
“I would like to see Suryansh Shedge come in place of Washington Sundar. He can bowl two or three overs of medium pace, which would fulfil the role of a sixth bowler.” Karim attributed India’s defeat to their inability to adjust to the English conditions.
“You need to read the opposition’s bowling plans. If you don’t, the results won’t go your way. That is exactly what happened with the Indian batters. Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue kept bowling short deliveries. We lost two wickets trying to play attacking shots off the back foot. “Even Abhishek Sharma got out, though it was off Adil Rashid’s bowling, but a wicket is a wicket. India didn’t assess the ground dimensions while facing the new ball. The need was to rotate the strike,” he said.
“If we had been cautious in the opening spells of Archer and Tongue and survived without losing early wickets, we could have accelerated later.” Karim was worried about how India dealt with the middle overs.
“I was particularly concerned about our scoring in the middle overs. Compared to that, England didn’t allow our spinners to complete their full quota. This Indian team is not adapting to English conditions,” he said.
“We are still playing like we are on Indian pitches with small boundaries. That is not how a World Cup-winning team plays,” he concluded.
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