Shreyas Iyer, owing to a dreadful injury, has been ruled out from the remaining two ODIs against England, and his presence in most of the IPL matches seems pretty doubtful as well. This is a big setback, especially for the Premier League Team Delhi Capitals for the forthcoming season.Iyer has been a vital part of the team, showing a lot of maturity in his batting and captaincy last year. Surprisingly, the inclusion of Steve Smith in the team this year was a part of his strategy as well.
Nevertheless, the question arises as to who will lead the team this year. I think Delhi Capitals should hand over the responsibility of captaincy to Steve Smith, who previously shouldered the responsibility of captainship for Rajasthan Royals. Rishabh Pant is indeed the captain of the team but it is also true that at this stage he does not have the experience of captaincy. He was the captain of the Delhi team in the Ranji Trophy, but there is a lot of difference between these platforms.
Sam Billings has also become unfit. I think it should not make much difference because only four foreign players can play in the playing eleven. Delhi Capitals will give priority to Steve Smith.
In the shorter formats, a question is often raised as to who among Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul should be given the command of wicket-keeping? I am with Rishabh Pant on this. Pant has greatly improved his keeping.
The truth is that his confidence has improved considerably with consistent batting. Performing well in one department of the game improves the overall game of any all-rounder. The same is true for a wicket-keeper batsman. Pant has not only improved his game with good knocks, but his wicket-keeping skills have also improved. He has been confident against the spinners as well as the fast bowlers and his temperament has also improved considerably along with his confidence.
KL Rahul is also very talented. I want to see these two players together in the T20 World Cup. These days there is talk of playing with New Zealand and South Africa. If this tri-series is organized, it will be an opportune moment for Indian players to prepare well for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Moreover, I would like to see Suryakumar Yadav in Team India in place of Shreyas Iyer in the second ODI. He is in good form. He has scored a lot of runs including a century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Saba Karim is a former cricketer who has played 34 ODIs as a wicketkeeper batsman for Team India. Views expressed are his own.