Shreyas Iyer's Captaincy In Danger? Gautam Gambhir Told He Shouldn't Be 'Undroppable'

Shreyas Iyer's Captaincy In Danger? Gautam Gambhir Told He Shouldn't Be 'Undroppable'

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Last Updated: July 09, 2026, 17:29 IST

Mohammad Kaif questioned India's T20I leadership, stating Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma did not deserve to be 'undroppable' because of their leadership roles.

Shreyas Iyer's captaincy reign is off to a poor start. (Reuters Photo)

Former India batter Mohammad Kaif has questioned India’s leadership appointments in T20Is, claiming that naming Shreyas Iyer captain and Tilak Varma vice-captain has reduced the team’s flexibility and contributed to Sanju Samson’s exclusion from the playing XI. He believes that Shreyas should never have been asked to start the Ireland matches in the first place, and Samson should have got more time instead.

India trail England 0-2 in the five-match T20I series, which had a third match washed out, after losing 0-2 to Ireland. Both Shreyas and Tilak have scored a half-century each, but their impact has been nowhere near what the team has required. Shreyas is under more pressure because he replaced a World Cup-winning captain, Suryakumar Yadav, and has yet to lead his side to victory.

“You have made two players the captain and vice-captain, who probably don’t even deserve a guaranteed place in the playing XI every match," Kaif said on his YouTube channel. “Yes, Tilak is a 50-50 call. He has won matches and played well. I’m not denying that. But the problem is that you no longer have any flexibility. Once you make them captain and vice-captain, they are automatically undroppable. And because of that, you’re ending up dropping Sanju."

Kaif felt Samson’s omission could have been avoided had Iyer not returned to the side as a captain, and been slowly integrated.

“That’s why I feel dropping Sanju was a huge decision. You could have managed the situation differently. If Shreyas Iyer hadn’t been the captain, you could have told him, ‘You’ve done well and earned your place back in the team, but right now there’s no spot for you in the playing XI. Wait for your opportunity. Stay with the squad, and we’ll see how things go. First, we’ll give these three players (Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and Samson) a chance.'"

Kaif also questioned the decision to appoint Iyer as skipper immediately after his return to the T20I setup.

“The people who made this decision deserve to be questioned. I don’t think this has ever happened in Indian cricket history, where someone who wasn’t even part of the T20 team comes straight back as the captain. I don’t think that’s ever happened before."

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First Published: July 09, 2026, 17:29 IST

News cricket Shreyas Iyer's Captaincy In Danger? Gautam Gambhir Told He Shouldn't Be 'Undroppable'

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