India T20I Captain: Shreyas Iyer to replace SKY; Vaibhav Sooryavanshi set for maiden India call-up

Shreyas Iyer will replace Suryakumar Yadav as Team India’s new T20I captain, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is likely to earn his maiden India call-up for the forthcoming UK tour. With an eye on the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and the T20 World Cup the same year in Australia and New Zealand, the BCCI selectors have decided to make these sweeping changes. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel will announce the T20I squad for the Ireland and England series on Saturday (Jun 6), Team India’s first assignment since Suryakumar Yadav-led India won the T20 World Cup in March this year.

The selectors have also decided to drop Suryakumar Yadav from the T20I squads following his lean patch in the T20 WC and IPL 2026. At the World Cup, his best performance came against the USA in India’s opener; later, SKY failed to score another T20I fifty, amassing 242 runs in nine innings. Even at IPL 2026 with Mumbai Indians, SKY managed a mere 270 with the bat in 13 innings and averaged just above 20.

Meanwhile, SKY’s successor, Iyer, hasn’t played a T20I since December 2023. Although Iyer returned for the New Zealand T20Is just before the marquee event as an injury replacement, he did not play a game as the management backed the WC-bound XI in all matches.

Iyer, however, has proved his captaincy credentials, having led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third league title in 2024; later, he led Punjab Kings to the final next season, only to lose to the RCB. This season, Iyer’s batting form and leadership were on full display, at least during the first half of the season, when Punjab led the points table with six wins in seven matches. However, a second-half turnaround saw them fall shy of the top-four finish. In the do-or-die match against the LSG, Iyer smashed his maiden IPL hundred and won the game for his team, but unfortunately for them, Rajasthan Royals qualified.

In IPL 2025, Iyer scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07 and 498 in the following season, striking at 168.81.

On the other hand, should the selectors hand Sooryavanshi his call-up, he will become the youngest Indian player to be picked for the senior men's team since the great Sachin Tendulkar. Sooryavanshi’s selections come on the back of a brilliant IPL 2026, where he won the Orange Cap (776 runs in 16 matches) and four other awards, creating history.

However, before the UK tour, Vaibhav will feature in the ODI tri-series involving the A teams of India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan starting June 9 in Dambulla.