Shreyas has led India to 3 wins, 6 defeats and 1 no-result so far.
Australian legend Ricky Ponting has strongly endorsed Shreyas Iyer's as T20I captain, stating that latter should lead India in the shortest format till he retires.
Shreyas took over as India's full-time T20I captain in June 2026, replacing Suryakumar Yadav. While his early fixtures resulted in series losses against Ireland and England, he secured his first series victory as skipper against Zimbabwe.
Despite a rough start (3 wins, 6 defeats and 1 no-result) to his captaincy stint, Ponting backed Iyer to successfully pilot the Indian T20I team.
“He had a tough time in the backend of the IPL and a tough run when he took over the Indian job. But no doubt in my mind, he was the right man for it. He’ll be the right man for that job, I think, until he’s retired from T20 cricket. That’s how highly I hold him in stature in the game. And I’m sure that those record that he’s got with India now will turn around pretty quickly in the next couple of years,” Ponting, who has worked with Shreyas at Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, told Sports Today in an exclusive chat.
Shreyas Iyer's appointment as India’s T20I skipper was heavily influenced by his stellar franchise captaincy. He led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to an IPL title in 2024 and guided the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final in 2025.
While PBKS narrowly missed out on qualifying for the playoffs this season, Iyer enjoyed strong personal runs with the bat, amassing 498 runs at an explosive strike rate of 168.81 with one hundred and five half-centuries.