BENGALURU: Perhaps no other cricketer has gone through so much turbulence and transformation between December 3, 2023 and June 6, 2026 as Shreyas Iyer, who took over the reins of India's T20 team from Suryakumar Yadav on Saturday.
Shreyas' is an extraordinary story, as it's tough for an Indian cricketer to survive a 30-month hiatus, particularly in the shortest format where talents are jostling for a space, and make a comeback, let alone as captain.
So, what has the 31-year-old done in that interim to impress the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel and head coach Gautam Gambhir? It has to be his single-minded dedication to claw back from setbacks and create an upward moving career curve.
Shreyas was looking at a bleak future after losing his BCCI central contract, along with Jharkhand's Ishan Kishan, in February 2024 for skipping domestic matches for Mumbai that season.
It took him nearly a year to earn the contract back, and also had to go through rejections from India squads for major events like the T20 World Cup (2024, 2026) and Asia Cup (2025).
But he never sulked or vented his frustration through social media, rather focused on working on his batting and recovery from certain injuries that forced him to seek a break from red-ball cricket last year.
Ties with Gambhir
The first sign of his revival came when he led Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title in 2024, working alongside team mentor Gambhir.
It might also have given the former India opener a chance to take a closer look at Shreyas' mindset and thinking.
Even before that, it was Gambhir who recommended Shreyas as his successor when he stepped down from Delhi Capitals' (then Daredevils) captaincy mid-way through the IPL 2018.
So, the social media speculations about his muted relationship with Shreyas could remain just that.
But in the last two years, the Mumbai man too has matured a lot as an individual and as a cricketer, and now he would certainly know how to set aside his personal choices for the larger good of the team.
Ricky Ponting, who has worked with Shreyas extensively at Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, had given his validation of it.
"He's a much more mature player than he's probably ever been in his whole career. He's completely on top of his game now."
"He's in that little sweet spot in his life and career where, if captaincy came his way, then I think he'd make the most of it," Ponting had told PTI during IPL 2026.
The high praise was not unfounded either.
The right-hander produced two of his best seasons as T20 batter in the IPL for PBKS - 604 runs in the 2025 season and 498 runs a year later, averaging over 50 and scored 11 fifties and a hundred.
A terrifying destroyer of spin always, Shreyas is now not ruffled by pacers either after adding an effective pull to his arsenal.
That consistency might have tilted the scale in favour of Shreyas over Sanju Samson, whose brilliance is entwined with baffling inconsistency, and other worthy contenders like Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, whose leadership skills have not yet been put under sustained test.
But now, Shreyas will have to walk through the wringer, as captaining the country is a totally different kettle of fish from leading a franchise in the IPL.
He will have to face a lot of more scrutiny over team's performances, team selection and his own batting.
In that context, Shreyas' ascension to the leadership role comes at the right time.
He will begin the new life with series against Ireland and England - places that can examine a player's batting as well as astuteness as captain.
Beyond that, Shreyas does not have any major T20 tournaments coming his way as the focus now shifts to next year's ODI World Cup.
The T20 iteration is in 2028, and he has good enough time in his hands to develop a blueprint for the global event, and mould a team according to his preference.
Biggest test
But Shreyas' toughest task will be to deal with expectations from a billion crazy fans.
His predecessors - Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar - have led the team to T20 World Cup triumph, and nothing less is expected of Shreyas and even a minor blip will not be pardoned easily.
However, Shreyas has this stoic, almost detached side to his captaincy, which came to the fore when PBKS went through a tailspin in the second half of this year's IPL and missed the playoff berth.
He does not carry the weight of victory or failure on his mind, and always stays in the present, trying to win that particular day.
It is an invaluable quality to have in the Wild Wild West world of T20.
So, welcome to the Shreyas Iyer era!