Suryakumar Yadav has been removed as T20 captain almost 72 hours before the national selectors meet in Mumbai to pick the squads for the tour of Ireland and England.
The BCCI brass approved the Ajit Agarkar-led committee’s decision to have a new captain for the 2028 World Cup and the Los Angeles Olympics, sources told The Telegraph.
Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma are in the race to succeed Surya and it is understood that head coach Gautam Gambhir will have the final say. It is unclear if Surya has already been informed of the selectors’ decision.
The Telegraph had reported soon after the World Cup in March that the selectors were looking ahead and unwilling to have faith in the 35-year-old. Surya’s prolonged poor form only acted as a catalyst for the selectors’ thought process.
Except for an unbeaten 84 against USA in the World Cup opener at the Wankhede, there was hardly any significant contribution from captain Surya during India’s campaign. He struggled with the bat during the recently concluded IPL too, aggregating 270 runs in 13 innings at a strike-rate of 147.54.
Shreyas has been impressive with his leadership, clarity of thought and ability to adjust his gameplan according to the demands of the situation. Samson, who is considered close to Gambhir, played a key role in India retaining the World Cup at home and continued with his explosive batting in the IPL.
Tilak, 23, is being seen as captaincy material given
his cool demeanour and ability to rise to the occasion
in pressure situations. Mumbai Indians too are likely to hand him over the captaincy next season.
Shreyas last played a T20I in September 2025 and has to find a place in the playing XI. But his successful leadership stints with Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings make him a formidable choice.
Surya is the second Indian captain to be removed immediately after winning an ICC trophy. Rohit Sharma suffered the same fate in ODIs after he led India to Champions Trophy glory in 2025.
Sooryavanshi riddle
The selectors are also toying with the idea of including Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in
the squads ahead of Saturday’s meeting.
The wonder kid has staked his claim with explosive batting in the IPL. He will be hard to ignore especially after the manner in which he smashed the bowling attacks in his first full IPL season.
But will it be fair to disturb the settled opening pair of Samson and Abhishek Sharma?
