Rising through Mumbai cricket is never easy, and neither is leading a team from the front but judging by Shreyas Iyer’s impressive captaincy record in the IPL in recent years, newly appointed India Test captain Rohit Sharma believes the Mumbai batter is well-equipped to thrive in the role. Shreyas was heralded as the new Indian captain in the shortest format while Suryakumar Yadav was dropped from the team as the three-time World Cup winners pressed reset to their T20 leadership, with key assignments such as this year’s Asia Cup and the 2028 Olympics and T20 World Cup in mind.
Rohit said Shreyas’ performances as captain in IPL — where he won the 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders and led Punjab Kings to final in 2025 — will give him the requisite experience for the Indian captaincy role.
“I’m sure looking at how he has captained in the last few years for his franchise, he’s going to have a good time,” Rohit, the brand ambassador of the T20 Mumbai League, said here on Saturday.
Rohit, who captained India to their second T20 World Cup win in 2024, said nothing comes easy for a Mumbai cricketer but Shreyas would know captaincy is a title that one has to earn.
“Look, playing in Mumbai, representing Mumbai teaches you a lot of things. If you ask anyone who has captained India or Mumbai before us, they’ll tell you the same thing. Nothing comes easy here. I’m pretty sure it’s the same elsewhere as well. But here — I’m just talking about Mumbai — nothing comes easy.” “You have to really earn it so captaincy is also something that you have to earn and earn the respect of people around you and that is something that all these guys have it,” he said.
Rohit also heaped praise on Suryakumar’s stint as India captain which culminated with the national side clinching their record-extending third T20 World Cup title earlier this year.
“I’m pretty sure nothing has come easy, especially for Surya,” Rohit said.
“He made his India debut at 30 or 31, if I’m not wrong, which means that he never gave up. He always wanted to be in the fight and when it came, he wanted to grab it with both hands, and he did it,” he added.
Rohit said the talent in the fourth edition of the T20 Mumbai League, which is running concurrently with the inaugural three-team women’s edition, has “unreal” talent.
“Looking at what has happened and what has transpired, I’m not at all surprised by it. Because the talent that we get to see is unreal, and that is what we want, right?,” he said.
“We want the platform for all the players to come out and show their talent and this is the perfect platform for a lot of these guys who are playing and taking part in it,” Rohit added.
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