Shreyas Iyer will replace Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I captain when the selection panel meets on Saturday to pick the squads for the white-ball matches in the UK and the Asia Games in Japan. The Men in Blue will play a couple of T20 games against Ireland, followed by five T20 contests and three ODIs against England. The Asian Games are scheduled to take place in September-October in Aichi-Nagoya. Tilak Varma will be Iyer’s deputy in the shortest format, while 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is likely to get his maiden call-up.
According to PTI, Suryakumar is not only being removed as skipper despite winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, but he will also be dropped from the squad over his poor form in the last 18 months, during which he competed with a wrist injury.
The 31-year-old Shreyas Iyer is expected to be at the No.4 slot. He has been impressive as a captain in the Indian Premier League, winning the trophy with KKR in 2024 and taking the Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings to the final in 2020 and 2025, respectively.
Leading three teams to the finals is no ordinary feat, and he is the only captain to script this record in the tournament. His batting has been magnificent over the years, and the only hiccup came in IPL 2026, where PBKS suffered a free fall after starting brilliantly.
BCCI’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar will announce two separate squads for the bilateral matches and the Asian Games.
The Indian Cricket Board will send the best team to Japan despite the dates clashing with the home series against the West Indies. Tilak Varma could get the captain’s armband for the Asian Games, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also getting a chance.
The selectors could add new names to the team, including pacer Prince Yadav and left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, who are in the Test and ODI squads for the Afghanistan series.
Will Bhuvneshwar Kumar get a chance?
The selectors have ignored senior pacer Mohammed Shami despite his wicket-taking spells across formats in domestic cricket. However, it will be interesting to see if Bhuvneshwar Kumar is included in the national team. He took 28 wickets for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League 2026. He was brilliant on flat pitches and has a good chance of taking scalps in the UK.
However, Agarkar has backed the youngsters, keeping the future in mind. The selectors would discuss Bhuvneshwar’s availability for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games and the T20 World Cup in Australia.
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