There are increasing concerns about the future of Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of India’s T20 team. Under Yadav’s leadership, Team India won its third T20 World Cup title on March 8, 2026. Despite leading the team to glory, his performance as a batsman has raised concerns.
If the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decides to look beyond Yadav, there will be many contenders to become the next captain of Team India in the shortest format of the game. There is likely to be competition between Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to replace Suryakumar Yadav.
Shreyas Iyer vs Rajat Patidar: IPL 2026 stats comparison
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer has been in great form for the team in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. The middle-order batsman has scored 203 runs in 5 matches and 4 innings at an average of 67.66 and strike rate of 187.96. In those four innings, Iyer registered half-centuries against Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians respectively. Under his leadership, PBKS is on top of the points chart with 9 points from 5 matches. As of now, the IPL 2026 runners-up are the only undefeated team in IPL 2026.
With a few half-centuries, RCB captain Rajat Patidar has also been in good form in IPL 2026. The middle-order batsman has so far scored 230 runs in 6 matches and 6 innings at an average of 46.00 with an amazing strike rate of 212.96. Under the IPL 2025-winning captain, RCB are second on the ladder with 8 points from 6 matches.
Iyer vs Patidar: Captaincy factor and leadership influence
Shreyas Iyer is one of the most famous leaders of the league. With Kolkata Knight Riders winning the IPL 2024, he took Delhi Capitals and PBKS to the final.
Iyer’s captaincy statistics so far in IPL:
|
team name |
Matchbox |
won |
lost |
no results |
toss |
|
punjab kings |
22 |
14 (63.64%) |
6 (27.27%) |
2 (9.09%) |
16 (72.73%) |
|
Kolkata Knight Riders |
29 |
17 (58.62%) |
11 (37.93%) |
1 (3.45%) |
12 (41.38%) |
|
Delhi Capitals |
41 |
23 (56.10%) |
18 (43.90%) |
0 (0.00%) |
24 (58.54%) |
Patidar’s finest hour came when he broke 18 years of bad luck and guided RCB to IPL glory in 2025. Apart from captaining Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket, his first captaincy stint in the IPL is with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Patidar’s captaincy figures in IPL so far:
|
team name |
Matchbox |
won |
lost |
no results |
toss |
|
Royal Challengers Bangalore |
19 |
14 (73.68%) |
5 (26.32%) |
0 (0.00%) |
7 (36.84%) |
Final Verdict: Who should be selected for India’s T20I team?
According to win ratio, Rajat Patidar is ahead of Shreyas Iyer. But Iyer has more experience in leading teams in the league and like Patidar, he also has an IPL title to his name. While Shreyas Iyer won the title with Kolkata, Rajat Patidar got success with Bengaluru. If the national team selectors evaluate the ratio of experience as well as success, then Iyer will go ahead of Patidar.
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