'I hope they really consider him': Former Australia player and PBKS coach backs Shreyas Iyer to become India captain

Former Australian cricketer and current Punjab Kings (PBKS) assistant coach Brad Haddin has come out in strong support of Shreyas Iyer , saying that he should be seriously considered as a future captain of the Indian cricket team. The BCCI named Shubman Gill as the new captain of the Test side after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired last month.

Iyer, who has impressed everyone with his batting and captaincy over the past few months, was snubbed from the Test team despite reports suggesting that he might be picked to play in the No. 4 position, which has been left vacant by Kohli. However, when the Indian team for the England series was announced, Iyer’s name was missing.

PBKS coach urges BCCI to make Iyer the captain

PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin, who has watched Iyer from close quarters, has praised his leadership during the recently concluded IPL 2025 season. Punjab Kings finished at the top of the points table to make the playoffs. They qualified for the final thanks to a brilliant knock from Iyer against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2. However, PBKS eventually lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the summit clash.

Speaking on LiSTNR Sport podcast, Haddin recalled a moment in Ahmedabad where Iyer made a bold decision that went against all the data and analysis. He mentioned the match against Mumbai Indians that PBKS won thanks to Iyer’s composed innings. PBKS qualified for the IPL final after 11 years and Iyer played a big role in it.

“You do all your planning for the game and at the stadium in Ahmedabad, everything says bat first. The analytics and the match-ups, go through your team stuff, everything says bat first. And this is where our captain hasn’t got enough credit and I hope, when they come down to pick an Indian captain, they really start to consider Iyer. He was outstanding throughout the whole tournament,” Haddin said.

“We say to him, ‘Yep, we are batting first.’ But he goes, ‘No, we’re bowling.’ Punter goes, ‘okay let the captain make the choice.’ [Iyer] then said, ‘No, I’ll win the game and I’m going to bat second. Everything leads to batting first, but we bowl. Then the captain comes out in the second innings and plays one of the best knocks in IPL I have ever seen and got us into the final,” he added.

Iyer broke a lot of captaincy records at the Punjab Kings. He became the first captain to lead three different teams to the IPL final. Iyer is also the first captain to lead two different teams to back-to-back finals. He helped Kolkata Knight Riders win the IPL last year. Before that, Iyer took Delhi Capitals to their first-ever IPL final.