Mumbai: From Rohit Sharma to Suryakumar Yadav to Shreyas Iyer, the Mumbai link to India captaincy stays. But the national selectors chose to look ahead rather than give in to emotion as they rang in changes in the leadership group for the new T20I World Cup cycle.
In that churn, Surya, who led India to the successful T20 World Cup defence in March, lost his captaincy as well as his spot to Iyer, who starts as the new skipper with the Ireland and England series in June-July. Tilak Varma will be his deputy, replacing Axar Patel in that role.
The 23-year-old Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians batter is being groomed as a future leader. He will captain India A in this month’s tri-series in Sri Lanka. The Iyer-Varma duo will also be in charge for the September-October Asian Games in Japan, the 15-member India squad for which was also announced on Saturday.
Ajit Agarakar’s selection committee also made the headline announcement by picking the 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in all the three T20I squads. “With his performances, he has almost forced us to pick him, with how well he has played,” Agarkar told the media. In IPL 2026, Sooryavanshi scored 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30.
Iyer’s swing in fortune
For Iyer, 31, his elevation as captain after being stripped of his national contract in 2024 for giving domestic matches a miss, marks a remarkable turnaround. Two years back, Iyer was dropped from the Test team. Even as he complained of a bad back, it was reportedly disputed by the selectors and then head coach Rahul Dravid. The new team set up with Gautam Gambhir as head coach did not immediately warm up to Iyer’s claims either.
His selection for the 2025 Champions Trophy too was fiercely debated before he got the nod. The middle-order batter stole the show with strong performances. During the year, Iyer took the brave call of making himself unavailable for red-ball selection to manage his back. Deciding to focus on white-ball cricket, he made technical improvements to overcome shortcomings against the short-ball and performed consistently for three IPL seasons (2024, ‘25, ‘26) in a row as captain and player. Released by KKR in 2024 after leading them to the title, Iyer was picked by Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting for a huge fee and his stocks continued to rise.
“We have seen what Shreyas has done over the last few years, leading different franchises, won the final once (IPL 2024). So, we have seen everything that a captain possibly can (do),” Agarkar said. “His own performances have been really good. He was quite close to making the World Cup squad as well. Obviously, Surya was still there. There was no room for him. He is, in my opinion, a standout candidate with enough experience now having played in the T20 format.”
Agarkar’s comments about Iyer being in contention for the World Cup suggests that Surya’s extended lean run – the batter himself called it being out-of-runs – had been playing on the selectors’ minds. Weak showings in the T20 World Cup (9 innings, 242 runs, SR 136.72) followed by IPL (13 innings, 270 runs, SR 147.54) saw him lose his place.
“I don’t necessarily think,” Agarkar said when asked if IPL form influenced the selectors to drop Surya. “I mean, you look at the form in the last couple of years. But he was a captain who was doing really well, winning so many games, eventually ending up winning the World Cup. We celebrated it a lot. When someone has led you to a World Cup win, it’s not the easiest sort of discussion to have.”
Agarkar said that discussion – he is known to have spoken to Surya on Wednesday – would remain between them.
Rinku, Kuldeep out
The other exclusions from the T20 World Cup-winning squad are Rinku Singh and Kuldeep Yadav. Sooryavanshi’s addition to the top order has come at the expense of Rinku the finisher. Following some very expensive IPL outings for Delhi Capitals, Kuldeep has been dropped for the returning Ravi Bishnoi.
Allrounder Hardik Pandya’s workload is being managed, giving Nitish Reddy an opportunity. Extended rest for Jasprit Bumrah gives Prince Yadav a chance to impress. Bumrah is part of the Asian Games squad. Both Pandya and Bumrah, given their injury-prone bodies, are expected to play limited T20I cricket in the lead up to next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa. Pacer Harshit Rana’s injured knee has healed to earn him a comeback.
Jaiswal for Kohli
Yashasvi Jaiswal will replace the injured Virat Kohli (hamstring) in this month’s three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will be cleared after mandatory tests at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.