Nayar, Parthiv Back Iyer's T20 Captaincy, Discuss Samson Snub

"You always feel that there's Jasprit Bumrah, there's Jofra Archer, experienced bowlers, but the pressure is actually on them because a young kid has nothing to lose. Even if he gets out first ball to Bumrah, no one is going to question him. But as a bowler, when you know there's a player who won't shy away from hitting a six off the very first ball, there's always more fear for the person who has more to lose. The bigger names are the ones thinking, 'Oh, he hit me for a six. His stock will rise and mine will fall. And if I get him out, people will just say he's a kid.' That's why a young player comes in with complete freedom. But the more he plays, the more he makes a name for himself, the higher the expectations become, and the more difficult it is to sustain that level of performance."

"Why is it always Sanju Samson who misses out? If you look at Sanju Samson's career over the last 11-12 years, the one question that has always followed him is consistency. In 12 years, there has been just one IPL season in which he scored over 500 runs. Even in international cricket, he either blows hot or cold. And when it comes to selection, that factor always comes into play. Either the player who isn't scoring quickly enough gets left out, or the one who has been inconsistent. You can't make decisions based on both emotion and logic. So emotionally, yes, it was the right call to give Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a chance. But if you go purely by logic, then why has Sanju Samson been left out? So, I think this decision was taken emotionally."

"This is just how we are. Whenever someone isn't in the team, we automatically feel they're the one who would have done a better job. At the last T20 World Cup, Shreyas Iyer wasn't there, and everyone kept asking, 'Why isn't Shreyas Iyer in the team?' Now that he's back, people are saying Rajat Patidar should be in the side. Ever since the series against Ireland began, everyone has been saying, 'Play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.' Now that he's playing, the question has become, 'Why isn't Sanju Samson playing?' That's just our tendency. Because our talent pool is so deep, whenever the team loses a match, we always feel the player sitting out would have done a better job."

"In his last T20I innings for India before this tour, he had scored a fifty-odd against Australia in Bengaluru. He was someone who always scored runs. And not just in the IPL, he also led Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title as captain. I think he reached a stage where he stopped playing for or worrying about India selection. When Rajat Patidar took over the captaincy of RCB, the team already had a lot of senior players. You knew that side would do well anyway. They had a very good auction and a solid bowling attack. The teams Shreyas Iyer has taken over were not particularly strong teams, and when you succeed with sides like that, you earn a different kind of recognition. That's why people say there's something special about his captaincy; he's able to get results with several youngsters in the team."

"How your brand as a captain is built is very important. Obviously, Rajat Patidar has won twice, but it has never really stood out that Rajat Patidar, the captain, has done something extraordinary. As a player, he has done a lot. With Shreyas Iyer, it has been an ongoing story. First, he won with KKR, then finished runners-up with Punjab, and this season didn't go as planned. But when you speak to players in the team, you understand what he's like as a captain and how he leads his troops. He wasn't even in the T20 World Cup squad, but now he's back in the team and captaining the side straight away. That's how it works in the IPL. Whoever has been the best captain over the last two or three years ends up leading the national side."