Three months after leading India to a third T20 World Cup title, Suryakumar Yadav is reportedly set to be dropped from the Indian T20I team. Questions around his future as captain beyond the 2026 T20 World Cup had always existed given his age, but it was his prolonged decline with the bat that ultimately raised concerns.
Suryakumar was widely regarded as one of the most destructive and versatile T20I batters in history, boasting a career strike rate of 163. Dubbed India’s ‘Mr. 360’, he scored four T20I centuries — the second-most by an Indian batter in the format. But after the highs of 2022 and 2023, his numbers began to nosedive.
Between November 2024 and the end of last year, he managed only 244 runs in 22 innings at an average of 12.84, without a single half-century. Only one of those knocks lasted longer than 25 balls.
Amid that slump, he enjoyed a superb IPL 2025 season, scoring 717 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 167.91 and winning the Most Valuable Player award. According to a PTI report, that performance convinced selectors to wait until the end of IPL 2026 before taking a call on his future.
“Surya is set to be removed from captaincy. The selectors wanted to wait till the end of IPL to see whether he can get back to form. Since he looked completely out of form and not just out of runs… a tough call needs to be taken,” a BCCI source aware of the developments told PTI on Wednesday.
The numbers, however, failed to improve. In IPL 2026, Suryakumar scored just 270 runs in 13 matches for Mumbai Indians at an average of 20.77.
That the 35-year-old was no longer part of India’s long-term T20 plans became evident when the BCCI omitted him from the preliminary 30-member list for the upcoming Asian Games.
“The selectors would be dropping him from the long list and had given an indication that Surya is now out of their scheme of things,” the source added.
In a separate report, Dainik Jagran claimed that Suryakumar has already been informed that he will no longer be part of India’s T20I plans. As things stand, the BCCI’s Apex Council is expected to formalise the next step in the process during its meeting on Thursday.
“The BCCI’s online Apex Council meeting is scheduled for Thursday; during this meeting, the Apex Council will instruct the Selection Committee that, in their next session, Suryakumar will no longer continue as captain,” the report stated.
With Suryakumar’s exit appearing imminent, Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma have emerged as the strongest contenders to become India’s next T20I captain. While Iyer remains the obvious candidate despite not featuring in the T20I side since December 2023, the PTI report suggested that several selectors are keen on Tilak, viewing him as an ideal long-term option because of his age.
There is also a third candidate in Sanju Samson, who is understood to be the preferred choice of head coach Gautam Gambhir. However, the selectors are reportedly not fully convinced by that option.
