The Punjab Kings have got off to a dream start to the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and captain Shreyas Iyer has been racking up the plaudits for the way he has led the side and for his own performances with the bat. It has led to some calls for Iyer to be considered as a candidate to lead the Indian limited overs teams and former fast bowler Zaheer Khan has said that while this could be a consideration later on, the 31-year-old would first be looking to become a regular in the Indian T20I team.
“First, being part of the T20 setup will be on his mind,” said Zaheer on Cricbuzz. “Captaincy, I am not sure if he is thinking about that right now. He can be a contender in due course because he has been captaining franchises for a while now and has been succesfull. So he clearly has that mindset.”
“When you are looking at the Indian T20 setup, I think he must be thinking first and foremost making the impact with his performances as just a player to secure a spot. Once you are in the squad then the rest of the things is upto how the team magagement is looking at things,” said Zaheer.
India won the 2024 T20 World Cup with Rohit Sharma as captain after which took over and they went on an even more dominant run. It culminated in them winning the title again this year. Shreyas in this period led to the title and then led to the final last season, which was also his best in the league with the bat. While he is a regular in the Indian ODI team and played a key role in their 2025 Champions Trophy, Iyer hasn’t been able to find a spot in the Indian T20I side since December 2023.
Iyer went from being known as a batter who could anchor innings in T20 cricket to a full blown power-hitter in the 2025 season. He smashed 604 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 175.07 and averaged 50.33. This season, he has continued in the same vein, scoring 208 runs in five innings and maintaining a strike rate of 182.45.
