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.
However, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Suryakumar Yadav could have been given more time to prove himself as a batter instead of being completely sidelined from the T20I setup.
"Look, I think it's a very interesting precedent," Ashwin said in a video shared by ESPNCricinfo on X. "I just want to put myself in Suryakumar Yadav's shoes and for an instance think how he would be feeling at this point of time. I'm sure every player has got the right to be gutted about being left out of the side and that's fair if he's feeling bad about it.
"But just the whole, the way it's been done, I'm a little apprehensive about the whole thing. Because in my head I'm thinking, okay... I'm just putting myself in Surya's shoes and thinking about it. 'Okay, sure, my batting form has let me down over the last 18 months or 15 months or whatever it is. I haven't been in the prime form that I could have been. But then I managed to win a T20 World Cup for the country.'
"Didn't have the greatest of great World Cups as a batter but surely, just like everyone else in the team - the coach, the vice-captain, the best-performing batter, the best-performing bowler - he's also quite been the best-performing skipper, right? He's played his part," he explained.
According to Ashwin, such a bold move will set a precedent for future selections. "Can we put big stalwarts in his shoes? Has there been an instance where a captain who's won the T20 World Cup has been left out without any ultimatum? I'm sure there's been communication. I have no doubts with regards to that. But this is quite a landmark day in selection. Because this will be taken as some sort of a precedent when the next time such a thing ever comes up," he remarked.
Ashwin questioned how Shreyas who wasn't even part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad can return to the fold as a leader. He noted that the remaining 14 members of the champion side might feel their consistent contributions have been ignored.
"Very recently, we had this conversation on Shreyas Iyer deserving to get into the T20 side," Ashwin said. "I'm all for that. But I'm again, wondering... If I am one of the other 14 members in that T20 World Cup-winning side, I'm looking at one another and saying, 'hey, we've been here for a while now. Haven't we done enough to warrant a position as a captain?'
"The one thing that's probably worked in favor for Shreyas is that he's won an IPL as a skipper for KKR. I wouldn't put any black mark on the fact that he's been a wonderful captain in the IPL. He's got a lot of tactics right. But, that said, there are team ethos that need to be well in place and well in mark. Axar Patel was the big choice as a vice-captain. And if the choice of vice-captain cannot step up into being the next captain, then we are going back in time and again, questioning those sort of things."
