BCCI plans for Shreyas Iyer to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India's T20I captain post-IPL 2026

The BCCI seems to have run out of patience with Suryakumar Yadav's poor form with the bat.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly chosen to move on from Suryakumar Yadav. It was a long time coming. The current Indian T20I captain, who took the reins from Rohit Sharma post the T20 World Cup 2024, just wasn’t getting going with the bat. Yes, Suryakumar has led India to the iconic T20 World Cup 2026 win, but with him being past his batting prime, the BCCI has set sights on Shreyas Iyer as his successor.

According to the Times of India, the BCCI wants to move on from Suryakumar as India’s T20I captain. That way, the management won’t have to carry SKY’s awful form. Meanwhile, Shreyas has been breathing down Suryakumar’s neck for some time now. Everyone knew that it was going to happen. The Indian management seemed to have pencilled in their wish to see a new leader going ahead in the road to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028 and LA Olympics that follows later that year.

Why BCCI want to remove Suryakumar Yadav as captain?

The plan was always there. With T20 World Cups coming every two years, the planning these days is done for a two-year period cycle. After India’s semi-final exit in 2022, Rohit Sharma knew he had at least two more years in him so he led the team for the 2024 tournament before hanging up his boots in Barbados. Then, India chose Suryakumar over a prime candidate like Hardik Pandya. It was done after taking recommendations from Rohit, former head coach Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir.

The duo of Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar worked brilliantly for the goal (the T20 World Cup 2026) and deservedly won the silverware. The hard work they put in to make India perhaps the strongest team in T20I history paid off. However, Suryakumar, the batter, never really did as a captain.

Not as India’s T20I captain, SKY always maintained a superior strike rate (around 170) in international cricket. From his debut in 2021 till about 2024, he was in the echelons of the greatest T20 batters India ever produced.

Suryakumar Yadav’s T20I record

However, all his batting work went downhill after he took over as captain. In fact, in the entire year of 2025, he failed to make a single 50+ score for India. The team literally carried Suryakumar’s horrible form until he got amongst the runs in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup 2026. He opened the tournament with one of his all-time knocks (84* vs USA). However, nothing really happened afterwards.

Once of the debates that go against Suryakumar is also the fact that he never really scores in must-win matches. That was seen at this year’s mega ICC event as well after the Indian captain registered scores of 18, 11 and 0 in the virtual QF (vs WI), semi-final (vs ENG), and in the final (vs NZ), respectively.

Suryakumar batted through injury?

According to TOI, Suryakumar carried an injury in the lead up to the T20 World Cup. The report stated that ever since IPL 2025, Suryakumar took field with a heavily taped right wrist and avoided exercises that exerted direct pressure. SKY has been regularly taping his wrist before batting, though the routine hasn’t been consistent across all competitions.

It became noticeable during the T20 World Cup. Before practice sessions, he would call team doctor Dr Rizwan Khan to the dressing room for cotton pads and brown tape to strap his wrist. On one occasion, the two focused carefully on it before Surya began his knock. The ritual was repeated at several venues, mostly away from cameras. There were reports that the BCCI would take a call on Suryakumar as captain after India’s T20I games against England; however, it seems that the management will start afresh.

Shreyas Iyer as next India captain?

Meanwhile, as mentioned before, Shreyas Iyer is likely to replace Suryakumar. It is a straight swap, not just between captain but between two specialist batters in the middle-order as well. Both prefer to bat in that number three to four slot, but Iyer has been highly successful lately.

The BCCI is looking at Shreyas, who is the perfect candidate to replace Suryakumar as captain. Iyer is four years younger than SKY. He has a tremendous form under his belt, and there are no apprehensions about his leadership as well. Iyer is the only captain to lead three different IPL franchises to a final. He did it with the Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2020 before winning it with the Kolkata franchise in 2024. Then, Iyer after getting paid INR 26.75 crore took Punjab Kings (PBKS) to a final.

There were huge criticisms when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel ignored Iyer in the T20I setup. But the talent was such that Iyer had to miss out. However, on cricketing merit, you just can’t ignore the Mumbaikar, who has been far more succesful than SKY. Just look at numbers below.

Iyer vs Suryakumar: T20 stats at No. 3 & 4 since 2025

India’s T20I schedule post IPL 2026