3 reasons why Shreyas Iyer should be next in line to captain India

The year 2022 has undoubtedly been a brilliant one for India's Shreyas Iyer. The right-hander has made some incredible progress across formats, and his clutch knock against Bangladesh in the second Test in Chattogram was perhaps the icing on the cake.

A lot has been spoken about how often Iyer has struggled against short-pitched deliveries. Many even wrote him off at the start of the year, as they felt his weakness would be exposed at the international level.

Yet, the 27-year-old managed to play some incredible knocks across formats and prove his critics wrong. With talks around KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya being the candidates for the future Indian captaincy, Shreyas Iyer has quietly joined the race and has perhaps convinced quite a few that he is the real deal.

On that note, let's take a look at three reasons why Shreyas Iyer should seriously be considered as a future captaincy option for the Men in Blue, at least in the longer formats.

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#3 Leadership traits at a very young age

Gautam Gambhir's comeback to the Delhi Daredevils back in IPL 2018 wasn't a great one, as he dropped himself midway through the tournament. A young Shreyas Iyer was then handed over the reins and although the Daredevils didn't qualify for the playoffs, they showed a massive improvement in their performances.

The franchise was then renamed Delhi Capitals and under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy, they made it to the playoffs of the IPL 2019 and also to their maiden IPL final in 2020, only to lose out to a star-studded Mumbai Indians side. A serious shoulder injury saw him miss the first half of IPL 2021 and he played the second half under Rishabh Pant's captaincy.

Delhi didn't retain Iyer ahead of the mega auction in 2022 and it was the Kolkata Knight Riders who snapped up his services. Iyer showed excellent temperament as a captain under pressure at Delhi, and with age on his side, he could well be thought of as a long-term prospect for the leadership of Team India.

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#2 Excellent composure under pressure

India were reeling at 74/7, while chasing 145 to win against Bangladesh in Chattogram. While the entire Indian top-order failed to apply themselves, Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin absorbed the pressure and delivered the counter-punch to register a famous victory.

Iyer started taking on spinners Mehidy Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan to put the pressure back on the opposition. This was one of the many crucial knocks that he has played for India, especially this year.

Ever since the 2019 World Cup, Iyer has proved time and again that he can be the solution to India's No. 4 conundrum in ODIs. His composure and ability to read the situation can certainly come in handy when it comes to captaining the Men in Blue.

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#1 Shreyas Iyer has arguably been India's best batter in 2022

Arguably the biggest reason for putting forward Iyer's name as India's future captain has been his consistency. The right-hander, despite his short-ball weakness, has been prolific with the bat, ending up as India's highest run-scorer in 2022 across formats.

The consistency with which he has made the most of every opportunity that has come his way, both in white-ball as well as red-ball cricket, is simply commendable. Such sensational consistency, coupled with a calm demeanor to understand every situation, could prove to be the ideal combination needed in the future Indian captain.