Indian Star Sees Shades of Rohit Sharma in Shreyas Iyer’s Leadership

India and KKR pacer Harshit Rana expressed his opinion on the comparison between Iyer and Sharma.

Indian Star Sees Shades of Rohit Sharma in Shreyas Iyer’s Leadership

Shreyas Iyer and Rohit Sharma (Image via BCCI/X)

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Rohit Sharma has achieved incredible feats as a captain in the white ball format over the last few years. In the three white ball ICC events that have taken place since the start of the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Indian team has just lost one match under Sharma’s leadership.

That match was the unfortunate World Cup final in Ahmedabad, which India lost to Australia. Post that, the Indian team impressively has won two back-to-back tournaments, the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, under Sharma’s leadership.

Many players have credited Rohit Sharma for his freestyle captaincy, which has allowed a number of players to flourish under him. With Sharma entering the last leg of his career and playing only one format, which is ODI cricket, India would be looking for a successor to the legend.

Shreyas Iyer has often been mentioned in such conversations after his successful stints as captain in the IPL. Current Indian team player Harshit Rana expressed his opinion on the comparison between Iyer and Sharma.

I find Rohit and Shreyas bhai very similar, in the sense that they give a free hand to the players. I like that a lot and try to follow that, but I can’t.

Harshit Rana via News18

Rana is captaining the North Delhi Strikers in the ongoing Delhi Premier League. He has played under the captaincy of both Sharma and Iyer and has had a firsthand experience of their styles.

Who will be the successor to Rohit Sharma’s leadership for India in ODI cricket?

After Rohit Sharma stepped away from both T20I and Test cricket, India has been lucky to find successful successors in both formats. Suryakumar Yadav has made sure the standards of the Indian T20I team remain as high as they were under Sharma.

Kl Rahul and Shreyas Iyer during ODI World Cup 2023
KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer (via Jagran)

On a similar note, Shubman Gill has started his tenure as Test captain quite successfully. He has become a better batter than before after assuming responsibility and also made sure India does not face a third consecutive series loss in Test cricket after drawing 2-2 against England.

However, the one format that remains is ODI cricket. Sharma is still the captain of the format. Though with the uncertainties that surround his future in national colors, India will look to confirm a successor very soon.

Prominent names like Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have often been in the discussion for the role. All three have performed consistently over the last few years and have won multiple matches for India.

Iyer, however, is leading the race with his impressive outings in domestic cricket and the IPL. He has taken three different franchises to the final and has also won the trophy with Kolkata Knight Riders (2024). Incidentally, Sharma too made it to the Indian captaincy on the back of successful seasons with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, where he won five titles for the franchise.

If Sharma continues to play until the 2027 ODI World Cup, in all probability he will keep the captaincy throne. However, if he decides to step away anytime soon, Iyer may step in to take the Indian team forward. ‘Transition’ is the word for Indian cricket nowadays, and one can expect interesting updates every day.

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