Suryakumar Yadav was entirely dropped from the Indian T20I team.
The BCCI Men’s Selection Committee on Saturday (June 6) officially appointed Shreyas Iyer as the new captain of the Indian T20I team, replacing Suryakumar Yadav for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England, as well as the Asian Games 2026.
Despite leading India to T20 World Cup title earlier this year, Suryakumar was dropped from the national squad entirely following an extended dip in form.
Surya couldn’t score a T20I half-century last year, and also failed to leave a mark against the top-ranked teams during India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign. The 35-year-old carried his poor form into the IPL 2026, where he scored 270 runs in 13 innings at a low average of 20.77 for the Mumbai Indians (MI).
While Shreyas took over the captaincy, Tilak Varma was named his deputy. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar cited long-term planning and Iyer's stellar domestic and IPL record for giving him the leadership role.
Despite the setback, Suryakumar Yadav seems to be in great spirits. In fact, he expressed pride that another Mumbai captain is going to lead India in the shortest format.
"So many things happening, but obviously very, very, very happy for Shreyas as he's getting to lead the T20 Indian team. We played a lot of cricket together in Bombay. Most important thing, what I felt, is that three back-to-back Mumbai captains going on to lead T20s for India. I think it's a very proud moment, and everyone needs to celebrate that," said Suryakumar on the sidelines of a T20 Mumbai League match, where he is captaining Triumphs Knights.
Teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who won the Orange Cap in IPL 2026 with 776 runs, earned his maiden senior team call-up.
Pacer Prince Yadav too received his maiden India call-up after impressing one and all with his exploits for LSG in the recently held IPL.
India's T20I squads for Ireland and England tours: Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav
India's squad for 2026 Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma (vc), Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi