While the cricketing community is preparing itself for the Champions Trophy, Shreyas Iyer has received renewed backing as a future captain of Team India from former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa. The backing comes against the backdrop of increasing rumors of the leadership change in Indian cricket.

Robin Uthappa said "I think Shreyas Iyer is going to be the next Indian Captain". [Star Sports] pic.twitter.com/wKepoJLPXb

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 20, 2025

The New Captain
It has been seen that ex-cricket player Robin Uthappa is frequently on the news for giving controversial statements. He speaks about Indian cricket and shares his views. Recently, though. he spoke about the new captaincy of Team India, which has been in the headlines for some time now. According to him, Shreyas Iyer will become the new captain of the Indian team. "As far as I know, Shreyas Iyer is the future captain of Team India," he said.
"This is the final tournament for Kohli and Rohit.".
I know that this is Kohli and Rohit's last tournament. Maybe not the last. But I feel that this will be Kohli and Rohit's last match together. So I feel that all members of the team should play with this in their minds. I hope Virat Kohli scores big runs this year. I feel he will begin doing it from here (Champions Trophy). Virat will come into form very soon," he said.

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Uthappa's Faith in Iyer
Uthappa has always shown his faith in Iyer's leadership skills. When Iyer led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title, Uthappa firmly declared, "I am going to say it here. He is going to be the future India captain."
His argument was supported when Iyer was picked by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a staggering INR 26.75 crore at the IPL auction. When Uthappa was appointed PBKS captain, he said, "If he can go there and win a title, I do not doubt that he is going to be the next Indian captain."

The Road Ahead
At the moment, Shreyas Iyer is included in India's 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy. Rohit Sharma is still the captain, with Shubman Gill as the vice-captain. Yet, with India likely to shift to a younger nucleus in the next few years, Iyer is still one of the strongest contenders for the captaincy. For the time being, cricket enthusiasts and pundits alike will keep an eye on Iyer's development as India gazes into the horizon of its leadership.

There's the Road Safety World Series, or RSWS for short. It's in 2025 and it's going to be the third time this happens! It's really important because the best cricket players get to play and everyone's extremely excited and ready to watch. Now, all the games are happening in England and that's really great because cricket games there are fun to see.

They're going to participate in T20 games, which means the games move very quickly and are replete with action. It's going to be very enjoyable to watch! And since it's so fun, even more people than before are going to see the players attempt to win. The RSWS has eight teams and they all want to win this very special prize. The important thing about this cricket competition is that it's not only just about the game--it's teaching us to be safe when we're driving.

The Road Safety Cell from India makes this all happen, and the person in charge of everything is Sunil Gavaskar, and Sachin Tendulkar is playing. Mister Tendulkar's telling everyone that this cricket game is a top-rate thing. And something sort of abnormal but also positive is that we don't know an entire lot about this game even though it's really important - it's sparsely documented.

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Achievements and Broadcast Information

Road Safety World Series 2025 Teams

RSWS 2025 Squads & Captains and Player Lists

Australia Legends Squad 2025

• Captain: Brad Hodge
• Players: Marcus North, Nathan Reardon, Ben Laughlin, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes, Peter Forrest, Ian Harvey, John Hastings, Ben Dunk (wk), Fawad Ahmed, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus.

England Legends Squad 2025

• Captain: Eoin Morgan
• Players: Mark Ramprakash, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Graeme Swann, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Sajid Mahmood, Stephen Parry, Steven Finn, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Paul Nixon, Chris Schofield, Phil Mustard.

Sri Lanka Legends Squad 2025

• Captain: Tillakaratne Dilshan (wk)
• Players: Chamara Kapugedara, Chaturanga de Silva, Ishan Jayaratne, Isuru Udana, Jeevan Mendis, Mahela Udawatte, Sanath Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera, Upul Tharanga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Pradeep, Chamara Silva.

India Legends Squad 2025

• Captain: Yuvraj Singh
• Players: Ambati Rayudu (wk), Robin Uthappa (wk), Abhimanyu Mithun, Harbhajan Singh, Manpreet Gony, Stuart Binny, Naman Ojha (wk), Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Vinay Kumar, Bharat Chipli.

Pakistan Legends Squad 2025

• Captain: Shahid Afridi
• Players: Asghar Afghan, Azhar Mahmood, Karim Sadiq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal (wk), Misbah-ul-Haq, Nawroz Mangal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rahman, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul

Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa opened up about the leadership differences between the former Indian captain Virat Kohli and the present Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma, under whose leadership India won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. 

In a recent interview with the Lallantop, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa claimed that captain Virat Kohli was speculative and exclusive, while he praised skipper Rohit Sharma for his inclusive leadership nature. 

Explaining their nature, Uthappa claimed that Kohli always set high standards for every player to stay in the team, while Rohit brought the best self from every player without changing their nature. 

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Robin Uthappa talked about Yuvraj Singh's yo-yo test failure

In the interview, Uthappa opened up about his views on the skipper Virat Kohli’s treatment of Yuvraj Singh in the Indian team. After winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, the Player of the Tournament, Yuvraj had to battle against cancer before making his international cricket return in 2012. He participated in the ICC World T20 in 2012 and 2014 and also in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017. 

However, due to failing to pass the yo-yo test, Singh’s international career didn’t stretch further. Uthappa felt that the yo-yo test mark for Singh should be adjusted. 

The former Indian cricketer also talked about the difference between cricket/batting fitness and match fitness. He feels that the present higher level of match fitness is overrated for the game. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Uthappa slammed Mr. Fix-it

Meanwhile, on his official social media account, Uthappa slammed the recent Mr. Fix-it report. Talking about Rohit Sharma’s leadership controversy, the former Indian cricketer felt that Mr. Fix-it should be named and shamed, whoever he is, either senior or junior, as Mr. Fix-it is a disappointment for human beings at this point in time. 

 

 

 

 

 

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India suffered a rare failure in the ongoing Hong Kong Sixes tournament as they registered a string of four consecutive defeats which officially eliminated the Blue Brigade from the quarter-final race. The Men in Blue currently being led by Robin Uthappa have failed to register a single victory in this tournament and will conclude their campaign on a sour note without a win under their belt.

India commenced their campaign by playing the opening match of their tournament against their old foe Pakistan. India has predominantly had the upper hand over their arch-rivals in major cricketing events but contrary to everyone’s expectations, the Indians were taken aback as Pakistan chased down a galloping 120 runs inside five overs in one of the most one-sided fashions. 

But the final nail in the coffin came when India took on a fairly inexperienced UAE side in their second match of the tournament. They were in desperate search of a win to stay in the race. While many expected India to win quite comfortably, UAE held their nerve to steal a narrow one-run victory from India in the final over of the run chase. At that moment, it was all but over for team India. The team subsequently went on to face England and New Zealand in their remaining fixtures but finished winless.  

The intense last-over drama which left India heartbroken

Coming into this fixture after a shocking defeat in their earlier match against Pakistan, Robin Uthappa & Co. found themselves in a high-pressure situation. UAE got off the flyer with the bat but Binny’s 3-31 restricted them to 130. The target of 131 was still going to be fairly tricky but Bharat Chipli gave the Blues a blazing start, smocking 20 in the first over before getting out. But they were soon jolted when they lost Chipli and Tiwari in quick succession giving UAE a window of opportunity to seal the game prematurely. 

But then the skipper arrived and together with Binny, the two dug in there and took the game deep for India. Uthappa went all guns blazing and hammered 43 runs off 10 balls which included three fours and five sixes. He was going along smoothly but Zubair got the better of him in the last ball of the fourth over and had him dismissed when the score was 83-3.

India needed 32 in 6 balls:

Stuart Binny - 4,WD,6,6,6,6,1. India lost by just 1 run. 💔 pic.twitter.com/qyhKWWyqe6

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 2, 2024

However, Binny continued to shine with the bat and kept India in the run chase with the help of his brute hitting. The game eventually progressed to the last over of the run chase where 32 runs were needed. Asif Khan from UAE was tasked with bowling the final over and he was greatted by a boundary first ball followed by a wide the second ball.

Binny then pressed his foot on the accelerator a lot further and went on to tonk four consecutive sixes before being run out on the final ball leaving India agonizingly short by one run. Binny clobbered 30 runs in that over but India fell by a narrow margin as they had way too much on their plate during the final over of the run chase.  

India batter Robin Uthappa has retired from all forms of international and Indian cricket, including the IPL, to play overseas T20 leagues. Uthappa has obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Kerala, the last state he played for in domestic cricket, and will be allowed to take up overseas assignments as new T20 leagues come up in South Africa and the UAE early next year.

Uthappa made his international debut in 2006 and played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is, and was part of the team that lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa. He additionally won several domestic titles with Karnataka and won the IPL two times: with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014 and with Chennai Super Kings in 2021.

A Successful Career

• Uthappa began his domestic career in 2002-03 with Karnataka and finished it with Kerala in the shortened 2020-21 season. 
• He also represented Saurashtra during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. 
• He played 142 first class matches, scoring 9446 runs with 22 centuries while averaging almost 41, and scored one more 6534 runs with 16 hundreds out of 203 one-day games to average 35.31. 
• In 291 T20 games, the remainder of which he played in the 2022 IPL for Super Kings, he scored 7272 runs while striking at 133.08.

He played every one of the 15 seasons of the IPL and represented as many as six teams in the competition: Super Kings, Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Pune Warriors, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals. He amassed 4952 runs in 205 IPL games, striking at 130.35 and averaging 27.51.

Uthappa was known for his aggressive batting, which earned him an international debut in 2006, yet he was dropped soon after the 2007 T20 World Cup due to poor form in 2008. The year prior to playing his last few matches for India in 2015, he accomplished a rare treble with Karnataka, who won the Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup and the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2013-14 season. He followed that with a stunning IPL for Knight Riders in 2014, finishing the season as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with a count of 660 runs while striking at 138.

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He was rewarded with a return to the Indian side for tours through Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in 2014 and 2015 yet unassuming returns implied he was left out once more. In between, he led the run charts in the 2014-15 Ranji Prize season as Karnataka became the first domestic team to repeat their title-winning streak.