Indian team head coach Gautam Gambhir has revealed the Indian T20I captain Shreyas Iyer’s best leadership quality. Notably, his comments came right before India’s quarter-final clash in the Asian Games 2026 campaign.
Speaking to JioStar, Gambhir disclosed that Iyer’s willingness to be flexible as a batter is his best leadership quality. Notably, Iyer and Gambhir worked together as a captain and a mentor at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the successful IPL 2024 season.
“Look, my first experience with Shreyas was when I went to KKR in 2024. Obviously, he was captaining the side, and the best thing I liked about Shreyas was that he was willing, at times, to leave his position as well at No. 4. That is when I realised that the first and foremost quality of a good leader, and I’m not going to talk about captaincy, is how selfless you are. Shreyas has that quality,” Gambhir told JioStar.
“That probably was the biggest tick that Shreyas can carry for the rest of his journey as a captain. He was so flexible that he was okay if someone went ahead of him. It happens very rarely that a captain, who is probably your main batter as well, sacrifices his position for the team’s cause, whether for someone else’s impact or from a left-hand-right-hand combination point of view. He is willing to sacrifice his position,” he added.
Further, Gambhir showered praise on India’s ODI and Test skipper, Shubman Gill, for ticking all the boxes. While Gambhir acknowledged Gill having a tough time in ODIs, he is confident of him turning things around.
“Leaving out anyone in Indian cricket from the playing eleven is always going to be tough. But when you have to do that as a young captain, it is probably the toughest job for any coach and captain to do it. So far, he has done that. He has actually ticked all the boxes,” said Gambhir.
“I feel that he has done all the right things. He has had a bit of a tough time in One Day cricket. But I am sure things will turn around because he has done all the right things,” he concluded.
