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Reports suggest that Shreyas Iyer is all set to replace Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of Team India for the T20I format. According to claims made in many media reports, Suryakumar Yadav has lost his place in the team due to poor form for a long time.
Amidst all the ongoing discussions regarding the future of Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav in the team, former Team India batsman Aakash Chopra claims that despite all these reports and claims, Yadav will remain the captain in the T20 International format at least for now.
Aakash Chopra explains why Shreyas Iyer deserves to be the captain
If someone asks Chopra to name Suryakumar Yadav’s successor, his obvious choice will be Shreyas Iyer. The former cricketer believes that Iyer will be the best fit in the middle order of the team, as he has already proved his strength. Chopra has also asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to include Rajat Patidar in the team.
Aakash Chopra says in his recent YouTube video, “If he is not there and you are looking at someone else, then my vote would be for Shreyas Iyer. Make him a part of the Indian team. Bring him in the middle order. Bring Rajat Patidar with him too, but I see the captaincy on the shoulders of Shreyas Iyer because he has experience.”
“He has done unbelievable in white-ball cricket. He is very, very good. He is the only player in the world to score more than 500 runs while batting at No. 4 in the World Cup. So he is an artist. He is an absolute game-changer in white-ball cricket, and he captains very well. He has done that with three different franchises. The proof is in the eating,” he further explained why Shreyas Iyer deserves to be in the white-ball team.
Will BCCI remove Suryakumar Yadav?
But will the management remove Suryakumar Yadav in the near future, as under his leadership India defeated New Zealand in the final to claim the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup title? Chopra, a former cricketer turned cricket expert and commentator, believes that he can remain the captain until Yadav announces his retirement.
He said in the same video, “Suryakumar Yadav will remain the captain for now because he has recently won the World Cup. You don’t change immediately after winning the World Cup, unless someone retires, like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja had retired and you had to do something else.”
Aakash Chopra’s prediction on change in captaincy
Chopra further clarified that Yadav is not going to retire yet. So perhaps the board can give him some more room to prove himself before taking the final decision.
“However, that is not the case with Suryakumar Yadav. Surya is not retiring. Surya has not had a very good World Cup, but he is the captain. He is a World Cup-winning captain. So you don’t change immediately. You will wait and see, although it is also true that he may not be the captain or be a part of the team till 2028, because that is too far and he is not getting younger by the day.” he adds.
Read more: Shreyas Iyer becomes India’s T20I captain in place of Suryakumar Yadav; Tilak Verma becomes vice-captain- report
