Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris has disclosed that his phone has been buzzing since he spoke about Shreyas Iyer being a future captaincy candidate for Team India. Styris’ comments after Iyer showed tremendous consistency with the bat in the middle order against West Indies in the absence of senior cricketers.
Iyer, who has batted at No.3 in these two matches, has scored two consecutive half-centuries and played crucial roles with the bat. Styris recently proclaimed that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper has all the qualities to lead the Men in Blue as well.
During an interaction on the Sports 18 show ‘Sports Over the Top’, Scott Styris was asked about the important roles played by Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson in the second ODI against the Windies. He replied:
“I can tell you one thing, I have got my own manual Google alerts. My phone has been buzzing with my comments on Shreyas Iyer a couple of days ago where I said he is a future captain for India.”
Scott Styris pointed out that Shreyas Iyer can play a leadership role within Team India even if he is not officially the captain. Meanwhile, with Rohit Sharma ageing, the Men in Blue will look to find suitable candidates to take the baton forward.
“It’s performances like this that not only will show his leadership qualities, but I also think will show his leadership in the group. He may not be captain but he has the ability to be a real leader through not only his actions but the way that he carries himself in a team environment as well,” the former New Zealand all-rounder explained.
“I think he will be disappointed” – Scott Styris on Shreyas Iyer’s knock in 2nd ODI
While Shreyas Iyer made good contributions with the bat, Scott Styris asserted that the former will be disappointed to not convert the starts into big knocks.
“That was a sensational innings. I think he will be disappointed he didn’t go on and make it a bigger number. But I think just exactly what India needed. As I said, they were a little bit slow to start with but he got the momentum going with Sanju Samson,” Styris concluded.
Shreyas Iyer will hope to keep the momentum going in the final ODI on July 27 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
