Rohit Sharma, the former India all-format captain, reacted to Suryakumar Yadav being removed as the T20I skipper, saying nothing has ever “come easy” for the right-handed batter. On Saturday afternoon, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee made it official, replacing Suryakumar with Shreyas Iyer as the T20I captain. The 35-year-old faced the axe despite having won the T20 World Cup just a few months earlier, and even lost his place in the squads for the upcoming series against Ireland and England, as well as the Asian Games.
Agarkar said that Suryakumar lost his place partly due to his form, and the second reason was that the committee wanted to build something fresh for the Los Angeles Olympics and the T20 World Cup 2028. Speaking of Suryakumar, his bat did not serve him for long, and a poor IPL 2026 season for the Mumbai Indians finally led to him losing his place.
Suryakumar made his T20I debut for India in 2021 against England in Ahmedabad, and three years later, he was appointed captain of the team after the T20 World Cup triumph in 2024. Under his tenure, India didn’t lose a single T20I series, culminating in the Men in Blue winning another World Cup in 2026. Suryakumar made his debut in Ahmedabad and eventually, his last match for India in the format was played at the same venue (T20 World Cup 2026 final against New Zealand).
“I’m pretty sure nothing has come easy, especially for Surya,” Rohit said on the sidelines of the Mumbai T20 League.
“He made his India debut at 30 or 31, if I’m not wrong, which means that he never gave up. He always wanted to be in the fight, and when it came, he wanted to grab it with both hands, and he did it,” he added.
‘Good time’
Rohit, who will next be seen in action in the three ODIs against Afghanistan, also said he’s confident Shreyas will do a good job, as the latter has a lot of experience leading different teams in the IPL.
“I’m sure, looking at how he has captained in the last few years for his franchise, he’s going to have a good time,” Rohit said.
“Look, playing in Mumbai, representing Mumbai teaches you a lot of things. If you ask anyone who has captained India or Mumbai before us, they’ll tell you the same thing. Nothing comes easy here. You have to really earn it, so captaincy is also something that you have to earn and earn the respect of people around you. That is something that all these guys have,” he added.
Shreyas’s last T20I for India came in December 2023, and his comeback game in the shortest format will be as the captain of the side. The series between India and Ireland will begin on June 26.
