Selectors Stay the Course as India Enters the Shreyas Era

Published 6 June 2026 · sports

Last year, the All India Senior Men’s Selection Committee stirred up the entire cricketing fraternity by removing Rohit Sharma as the captain of the ODI

Last year, the All India Senior Men’s Selection Committee stirred up the entire cricketing fraternity by removing Rohit Sharma as the captain of the ODI team. The man who led India to Champions Trophy glory was stripped of his stripes. There was a public backlash. The selectors wanted to avoid having three different captains at the time and also wanted to give the new captain, Shubman Gill, sufficient time to settle into the role. The same script has been repeated this year, with the same chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, at the forefront. After leading his team to World Cup glory at home, Suryakumar Yadav has been axed as captain, with Shreyas Iyer appointed as the new T20I captain. Not Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan or Axar Patel, but Tilak Varma will be Shreyas’s deputy. Shreyas’s appointment marks the beginning of a new era in Indian cricket.

A new cycle will begin with the T20I series in Ireland, followed by the England T20Is. The 16-member squads for both tours have been announced and are identical. Even for the Asian Games, the squad remains largely unchanged, with Jasprit Bumrah’s selection in place of Mohammed Siraj being the only notable difference in a 15-man contingent. Most players from the World Cup-winning squad have been retained. Suryakumar has been dropped, as have Kuldeep Yadav and Rinku Singh, while Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have been rested to manage their workload. As expected, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has earned his maiden national call-up on the back of a dream run with the bat in IPL 2026. Nobody deserved it more than the 15-year-old. He has shown maturity beyond his years in the toughest T20 league in the world against some of the best bowlers.

If he makes his debut, the Bihar-born cricketer will become the youngest to represent India. Weeks after receiving his maiden international call-up for the ODI series against Afghanistan, Prince Yadav has also found a place in the T20I squad for the Ireland and England series. With his control, ability to move the ball and knack for taking crucial wickets, Prince caught the selectors’ attention during IPL 2026. He was the standout among the uncapped pacers this season. The selectors are developing a large pool of bowlers not just in Test cricket but in white-ball formats as well. For Sooryavanshi and Prince, travelling with the team and working with the Indian coaching staff will be immensely beneficial. Even if they do not get opportunities in the playing XI, they can continue to develop their skills behind the scenes. Moreover, there is nothing quite like the exposure that international cricket provides.