Shreyas Iyer, the batter, led Mumbai to victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, having led KKR to the title of the 2024 IPL.
Mumbai: Even in cricket, where the captain is supreme when you have high-profile names among 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. Still, the presence of Gautam Gambhir, Chandrakant Pandit, and Abhishek Nayar in the dugout meant Iyer’s contribution as the pack leader was 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 does not boast international stars but is a testing competition. Iyer, again, proved himself to be a smart T20 captain by guiding Mumbai to victory. He has once again shown the qualities of a good man manager while understanding the demands of the modern game.
The best part of any team is bringing out the best from its senior players. He did that with Andre Russell and Sunil Narine for KKR. With Mumbai, he led a side filled with leaders, India T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Ajinkya Rahane, 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.
