Shreyas Iyer's stocks are on the rise after leading PBKS to the IPL 2025 final.
During the recently-concluded IPL 2025 season, Shreyas once again led from the front, guiding Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the summit clash of the tournament.
While commenting on the leadership skills of Iyer, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar lauded the PBKS skipper.
When asked if Iyer should be groomed for India captaincy, Gavaskar said that the focus should be on Shubman Gill, who has recently appointed the captain of the Test team.
"If he is worthy of being the captain or not, we first need to look at Shubman Gill, who is the Test captain. We need to give him opportunities. If we talk about such things, then we are creating undue pressure on Shubman Gill," Gavaskar said on Sports Tak.
"There is no need to create pressure on Shubman Gill before the England tour. You first need to realise that Shreyas Iyer is not even in the Indian team. There should be no talk about him being made the next Indian captain," he added.
Shreyas Iyer failed to make the cut in India’s 18-member squad picked for the upcoming five-Test series against England, starting June 20 at Headingley.
Gill was handed the leadership role after Rohit Sharma hung up his boots from the longest format last month. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant has been named the vice-captain.
According to Gavaskar, talking about Shreyas as potential India captain could create doubt on Gill’s mind. He suggested that the new captain should rather be given confidence.
"When he (Iyer) makes a return to the side then you can have a look at whether he can be made the captain or not. We need to show tremendous confidence in Shubman Gill, who has just been made the Test captain. He is our India captain," Gavaskar stated.
"You shouldn't create doubts in his mind, there should be no pressure on him. You shouldn't create pressure, saying, 'Oh look, there is Shreyas Iyer'," he further remarked.