Shreyas confirmed as India's T20I captain; Suryakumar dropped
Shreyas Iyer has been confirmed as India's new T20I captain, replacing Suryakumar Yadav who has been dropped from the squad for the series in Ireland
Shreyas Iyer has been confirmed as India's new T20I captain, replacing Suryakumar Yadav who has been dropped from the squad for the series in Ireland and England in June and July. The squad includes 15-year old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who received his maiden call-up to the national team as the selectors look to build towards the Los Angeles Olympics and the T20 World Cup in 2028. Tilak Varma has replaced Axar Patel as the vice-captain of the T20I squad. Apart from Shreyas and Sooryavanshi's inclusions, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravi Bishnoi and Prince Yadav were also brought into the squad, while Rinku Singh and Kuldeep Yadav were left out from the squad that won the T20 World Cup. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were rested. The tour of Ireland and England is India's first T20I series since Suryakumar, 35, led them to a successful defence of the T20 World Cup trophy in March. However, he will be 38 before the next T20 World Cup in 2028. The debate around his position arose following a lukewarm 2026 T20 World Cup, where he scored 242 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 136.72, and a poor IPL 2026 where he made only 270 runs in 13 innings at an average of 20.76 and a strike rate of 147.54.
His successor Shreyas, 31, has not played a T20I since December 2023 due to India's inability to find a place for him, with Suryakumar and Tilak occupying middle-order positions. Shreyas was most recently selected as an injury replacement during the home T20I series against New Zealand in January, but did not play a game because India preferred to pick the players who were going to play in the T20 World Cup that followed. Shreyas, however, has proven captaincy credentials, having led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL title in 2024, and Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final in 2020 and 2025. He scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07 in IPL 2025 and 498 runs at a strike rate of 168.81 in IPL 2026. "We've seen what he's done over last few years, leading different franchises," chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said of Iyer in Mumbai on Saturday. "He won [the IPL title] once, had a tougher season this year after a great start. He's seen everything that a captain possibly can. "His own performances have been really good. He was quite close to getting into that T20 World Cup squad as well, but [with] Surya still there, there was no room for him.
He in my opinion was a stand-out candidate with enough experience now. This will obviously be a different challenge." ESPNcricinfo Ltd Agarkar also felt Tilak's body of work in T20Is over the past two years merited a promotion. This is the third T20 vice-captaincy change the selectors have had to make over the last eight months. "Shubman Gill was vice-captain leading into the T20 World Cup," Agarkar explained. "When we made a call to have two wicketkeepers, he missed out. Then Axar was vice-captain, replacing Gill. But like Shreyas, we're looking at what is best for the next two-year cycle. Tilak is firstly a terrific player, it gives him an opportunity to learn on the job as well in case the need arises." If Sooryavanshi makes his debut in Ireland or England, he will become the first India player to make his men's international debut before turning 16. Tendulkar made his Test debut at 16 years and 205 days and his ODI debut at 16 years and 238 days. Washington Sundar is India's youngest men's T20I debutant, having won his first cap in that format at 18 years and 80 days. Shafali Verma was 15 years and 239 days old when she made her women's T20I debut.
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