Shreyas Iyer, who replaced T20 World Cup-winning skipper Suryakumar Yadav last month, couldn’t register a single win in his first assignment as India’s T20I captain on the tour of UK.
His stint got off to a rough start as the Men in Blue suffered a humiliating 0-2 series defeat to Ireland. The performance went downhill in England, with India failing to record a victory in four completed fixtures.
After India’s 56-run thrashing in the fifth and final T20I at Southampton, legendary Ravichandran Ashwin stated that Suryakumar could still return to the national setup if he does well in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and IPL seasons.
However, Ashwin also expressed doubts, considering the unceremonious exit of Surya from the T20I fold.
"Where is he going to play? If he shows good form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he can make a comeback, why not? Captaincy is difficult right now. He should make a comeback as a batter. He has two tournaments now. He needs to perform in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and then in the IPL. We cannot close the door on anyone. But the way he was removed from the team, I really doubt it," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Despite leading India to T20 World Cup title earlier this year, Suryakumar Yadav 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.
In the same video, Ashwin opined that Kuldeep Yadav hasn’t been handled well by the team management lately and hoped to see the left-arm wrist-spinner get fair treatment in the three-ODI series against England, starting July 14 at Edgbaston.
He expects Kuldeep and ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah to hold the key for India in the 50-over assignment.
"The big thing is that Kuldeep and Bumrah will come back. I'm waiting to see Bumrah's form and bowling because that is very important for Indian cricket. That is a big boost,” Ashwin stated.
"Virat and Rohit will play with their experience, but Bumrah and Kuldeep are huge factors. Kuldeep has not been treated very well. I really hope he gets treated very well. Varun Chakaravarthy is not there, so I hope they get to use him as an attacking option," he remarked.
