table of contents
Shreyas Iyer is considered to be Suryakumar Yadav’s successor as the captain of India’s T20I team. It is being told that Suryakumar Yadav is on the verge of losing his leadership role in the coming days and due to his poor form for a long time, he can also be dropped from the team.
Under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, India won the T20 World Cup 2026 by defeating New Zealand in the final. It cannot be denied that Yadav has done his captaincy job well, but it is his poor form that is preventing him from progressing in the national cricket team.
Why Shreyas Iyer deserves to be the next captain of Team India for the T20I format?
Iyer and some other players, like Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, were in the running to become the next T20I captain for the Men in Blue. Recent reports indicate that although several names were under consideration, it is now Shreyas Iyer who is the frontrunner to replace Yadav.
Former Team India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has mentioned that Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir worked together for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League to help the team clinch its third league title.
Without Gambhir, Shreyas Iyer proved himself as a leader many times over. In two seasons with the Punjab Kings, he led the team to the finals during the 2025 season. Along with the burden of leadership, Iyer scored over a thousand runs for Punjab in these two seasons, proving his ability to perform under pressure, a very essential element for a captain.
Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer have worked together before
Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel, “Gautam has worked with Shreyas before and has won trophies for KKR. Shreyas has taken Delhi and Punjab to the finals. In terms of experience, Shreyas has led in the IPL, won trophies and understands Gautam’s patterns. In terms of mutual understanding, Shreyas seems to be at the forefront.”
He said, “He is miles ahead of other contenders. He has scored runs despite being the captain. You will find very few players who are captain and also score runs. There is no better option than him.”
Kaif suggested the name of Jasprit Bumrah
Kaif has another suggestion to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) if they want to remove Yadav. According to the former cricketer, Jasprit Bumrah is a man who has served the team across all formats for a long time, has leadership qualities and is worthy of being the captain of the T20I set-up based on his fitness.
“If you look at it, Jasprit Bumrah is eligible. He has been in Surya’s team, and he has played for a long time and performed well. If he is ready for captaincy, he should be on top of all the other names. He also captained MI and they won that game,” Kaif said.
“He also made a statement which shows that he has the desire to be captain. I don’t know about his fitness and participation, but in that sense no one should be too close to him because he has been in the team and performed well in different situations,” he said.
Read more: Hardik Pandya’s injury update: Mumbai Indians captain declared fully fit ahead of Afghanistan series
