MUMBAI: Even in cricket where the captain is supreme, when you have high profile names in the coaching staff, he may not get enough credit for his team’s success. Ask Shreyas Iyer.
As Kolkata Knight Riders skipper, he hardly put a foot wrong during their 2024 IPL winning run, but the presence of Gautam Gambhir, Chandrakant Pandit and Abhishek Nayar in the dugout meant Iyer’s contribution as the leader of the pack got overshadowed.
However, by captaining Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) title against Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, Iyer has proved there is more to his leadership than carrying out instructions from the dugout.
The SMAT national championship doesn’t have international stars, but is a gruelling competition. By helping Mumbai lift the trophy, Iyer has again underlined his quality as a smart T20 captain, well-versed in the demands of the modern game while being a good man manager.
Bringing the best out of senior players is always the challenge. He achieved it with Andre Russell and Sunil Narine at KKR. With Mumbai, he was leading a side filled with leaders, India T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav, and Ajinkya Rahane, who is the Ranji Trophy skipper. The most impressive was how Rahane played under him, finishing as the tournament’s top run-getter to win the Player-of-the-Tournament trophy. Yadav played a match-changing hand in the final at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday evening.
BACKING YOUNGSTERS
At the same time tough calls were taken. Benching seniors is never easy, but Iyer’s decision to play young left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar ahead of the seasoned Shams Mulani midway through the tournament clicked. Thanks to the 24-year-old Ankolekar, Mumbai dominated the first 10 overs of the final. The left-arm spinner bowled two overs in the powerplay for just seven runs, returning figures of 4-0-19-1. He also smashed a 6-ball 16 not out to finish a tough chase in the company of another young gun, 21-year-old Suryansh Shedge who blasted an unbeaten 36 off 15 balls.
Coach Omkar Salvi credited Iyer with taking the call on Ankolekar. “I feel the captain took a good call and rested the senior player (Mulani) who was in need of a break, and brought in Ankolekar, who was fresh and performed well,” he said.
Spelling out his leadership mantra, Iyer said it is having an understanding of the abilities of different players to grasp things, which will vary as per their experience. “It’s fun, it is also challenging at times, especially in T20 where the game tends to go ahead of your thoughts. We don’t need to tell them (experienced players) anything because they have seen such situations in the past and have overcome the pressure scenarios. But with youngsters it is important to have that sort of conversations on how they would perceive (the situation) at that point. Some of them may pick up early and some may take time, so it’s important to understand what their mindset is and not treat everyone the same way,” Iyer said at the Mumbai Cricket Association office on Monday.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) have paid ₹26.75 crore to get Iyer at the auction, the second highest IPL bid ever. Their head coach, Ricky Ponting, had spotted his leadership ability during his time with the Delhi franchise. Iyer was announced the new captain (of then Delhi Daredevils), replacing Gambhir in 2018 at the age of 23, and he had impressed immediately. In the 2019 IPL, he led Delhi Capitals into the playoffs after seven years. In 2020, he led them to their maiden IPL final against Mumbai Indians.
After another title, the Mumbai batter understands that the expectations from the new franchise will be high. “Certainly feeling ecstatic about having so many trophies under the belt. It gives you a lot of motivation and it is inspiring as well. At the same time, I know the expectation is going to be higher now and there will be pressure. Personally, when they say if someone is a clean-hitter, their mindset is to thrive under pressure. And that’s what we discuss all the time in the team meetings.”
