Rohit, Suryakumar back Shreyas to succeed as T20I captain

India’s two most recent T20 World Cup-winning captains — Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav — on Saturday backed Shreyas Iyer to succeed as India’s next T20I captain, insisting that Mumbai cricket prepares players uniquely for leadership responsibilities.

Hours after Shreyas was officially handed India’s T20I captaincy, both Rohit and Suryakumar used the T20 Mumbai stage at the Wankhede Stadium to congratulate their Mumbai teammate.

“I am very, very happy for Shreyas. I have played a lot of cricket with him here (in Mumbai),” Suryakumar said at the toss before leading Triumph Knights Mumbai North East against SOBO Mumbai Falcons.

“The most important thing is that three back-to-back Mumbai captains have gone on to lead India.”

Suryakumar’s comment underlined an increasingly unique sequence in Mumbai cricket — Rohit, followed by Suryakumar and now Shreyas progressing from captaining Mumbai to leading India in the shortest format.

Rohit, the ambassador for T20 Mumbai, suggested that Mumbai cricket’s demanding ecosystem plays a major role in preparing captains for bigger responsibilities.

“Playing in Mumbai, representing Mumbai teaches you a lot of things,” Rohit told the official broadcaster. “If you ask anyone who has captained India or Mumbai before us, they will tell you the same thing.

“Nothing comes easy here. You have to really earn it. Captaincy is also something that you have to earn and earn the respect of people around you and that is something that all these guys have.”

Rohit also backed both his successors, praising Suryakumar’s leadership stint and recalling the difficult road that took him to international cricket.

“You have seen Surya lead India to the World Cup final. Shreyas has been announced as the T20 captain and I am sure looking at how he has captained his franchise in the last few years, he is going to have a good time as well,” Rohit said.

“Nothing has come easy, especially for Surya. He made his India debut at 31. That means he never gave up. When the opportunity came, he grabbed it with both hands”.