In what could become a major decision by the BCCI selectors, Suryakumar Yadav might be in line to become the first Indian captain to be dropped right after leading the side to ICC glory.
And furthermore, interestingly, he could be replaced by a guy who wasn’t even part of the T20 World Cup 2026 squad!
Earlier this year, Suryakumar etched his name alongside Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma to become the fourth Indian captain to win an ICC World Cup after leading India to the podium finish at the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
India lost only one match in the competition, to South Africa in Super 8. After that loss, India went on to beat Zimbabwe and West Indies in must-win games before beating England in the semi-final and then made the final a one-sided affair against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.
Suryakumar, in fact, has an excellent record as India’s T20I skipper. Under SKY, India have won 40 T20Is out of 52, with an unbelievable win/loss ratio of 5, better than Rohit’s 4.083 and Dhoni’s far inferior 1.464.
India didn’t lose a single series/tournament between winning the 2024 and 2026 editions of the T20 World Cup. This included an unbeaten campaign at the Asia Cup.
However, Suryakumar’s batting form has come under the scanner big time. He endured a poor 2025 in T20Is, scoring only 218 runs at an average of 13.
He did well at the start of 2026, getting back his form with half-centuries against New Zealand and the USA. However, since then, Suryakumar has not produced a single innings of note.
He ended the T20 World Cup with only one fifty in nine innings and a below-par strike rate of 136. His form in the IPL 2026 has also been disappointing as the Mumbai Indians remain on the verge of being eliminated from the playoff race: 195 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 145, his average of 19.5 being the ninth-worst by any MI batsman so far.
Shreyas Iyer to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I captain as BCCI sets eye on 2028 T20 WC – Reports
With the 35-year-old Suryakumar being woefully out of form, the BCCI has reportedly planned to replace him as India’s T20I captain. According to a report in the Times Of India, the BCCI is “likely to relieve Suryakumar Yadav from India’s T20I captaincy duties” after the IPL.
A TOI report said that the BCCI has “run out of patience” with SKY’s dismal form with the bat and wishes to “inject some freshness” to the squad for India’s next T20I series, which will be against Ireland in June, followed by a five-T20I series in England.
Further, Iyer is a strong contender to replace Suryakumar even though he wasn’t even part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad.
Iyer has been outstanding as a captain in the IPL, leading KKR to the title in 2024 and Punjab to the runners-up position in 2025. In the ongoing IPL 2026 season, PBKS have been the table leaders for a significant period until recently dropping to the second spot.
With the BCCI eyeing the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the LA28 Olympics, Suryakumar reportedly isn’t in the plans.
Suryakumar, though, expressed his keenness to continue leading India in T20Is after lifting the title in March.
He had said, “Throughout the journey till today it has been very special and collectively as a team what we have achieved I think is right in front of you [trophy]. So, [I’m] very happy with that and the next goal is the Olympic gold and also the team that we work with.”
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