- Suryakumar Yadav’s position as Indian T20I captain is under the scanner.
- Several reports have suggested Shreyas Iyer as a potential replacement.
- We look at the top 3 candidates to replace Suryakumar Yadav as Indian T20I captain.
Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t had the best of times with the bat in recent times. The 2026 T20 World Cup winning captain finds himself in a bit of a fix when it comes to his place in the team.
Yadav has struggled with form for a little while in the shortest format. Even in the victorious World Cup campaign, he scored 242 runs in 9 innings. A number boosted by an 84* against the USA in the group stage.
In this year’s IPL, Yadav averages just under 18, having scored 210 runs in 12 innings. He has hit just the one fifty across the ongoing campaign too. These middling numbers have cast some doubt on his place in the squad. And as a result, the captain’s position is under the scanner too.
Top 3 candidates to replace Suryakumar Yadav as Indian T20I captain
Although there’s been no official word about Suryakumar Yadav’s position as the Indian T20I captain, plenty of reports coming out of India have suggested that he could be replaced. Today, we look at the top three candidates that could take his place.
Shreyas Iyer
Multiple reports in India suggested Shreyas Iyer could be named T20I captain when the squads for India’s tour of Ireland and England are announced. Iyer himself hasn’t been a fixture in the T20I squad for some time now, last playing for India in 2023.
However, his record as captain in the T20 format is as good as they come. Iyer is the only player to captain multiple teams to the IPL final, and he has done so with three. DC in 2020, KKR in 2024, PBKS in 2025, winning the whole thing with KKR.
Domestically, Iyer led his Mumbai team to a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy triumph in 2024. Although he is not an incumbent member of the national team, his IPL batting has done him no harm in the last two seasons. Iyer has scored 1001 runs in 30 matches in the competition since the start of 2025. The numbers are behind him, only time will tell if the selectors are too.
Hardik Pandya
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has had a rocky time as captain with MI. Replacing five-time IPL winning captain Rohit Sharma in 2024, he already had pretty big shoes to fill. His time with MI has not been the easiest.
In 2024, MI finished at the bottom of the table after Pandya was traded back from GT as captain in a tumultuous season. A year later, it looked like the infighting that apparently had plagued them the previous year had been set aside. Mumbai reached the playoffs in 2025 before being eliminated by Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2.
This year, MI seem to have regressed again. Pandya’s side find themselves languishing in ninth place, assured of a bottom two finish this term. To make matters worse, Pandya himself missed out on four games with a back spasm. This set the rumour mills off, with reports suggesting that all was not well between captain and management. Pandya has since returned, however, captaining MI against KKR in their penultimate game of the season.
Pandya’s time at Gujarat Titans shines a brighter light on his abilities as a captain. GT won the title in their first year of existence, and in Pandya’s first go at captaincy in the competition. They would make the final again the next year, only to heartbreakingly lose to CSK after Jadeja hit a four and a six in the final two balls of the tournament.
Axar Patel
Not as widely tipped to take over as Iyer has been, Axar Patel probably should be in the conversation simply as the current vice-captain of the team. A consistent performer for the Indian team, Patel was made vice-captain of the side in 2025.
He has also served as the Delhi Capitals captain since the start of the 2025 campaign. While his numbers as captain don’t paint him in glory, his performances have shown him to be a reliable member of the team.
In spite of being an all-rounder, Axar Patel is three wickets away from being just the fourth bowler to pick up 100 wickets for India in T20Is. Patel also has 700 runs to his name in the format, including a very crucial 47 as India beat South Africa in the 2024 T20 World Cup final.
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