EXCLUSIVE: Shreyas Iyer frontrunner in three-way race to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India's T20I captain

India may well have a new T20I captain in Shreyas Iyer when they travel for their next T20I series against Ireland and England. 
Shreyas Iyer’s appointment would mean the end of the road for India's current T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, who led India to the T20 World Cup title earlier this year.

Shreyas Iyer all set to become India's T20I captain

Gautam Gambhir will be consulted on Suryakumar’s future before a final call is taken on captaincy but the head coach, at the most, may only be able to delay the inevitable, but even that looks highly unlikely at the moment.

Notably, Suryakumar took up India’s T20I captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the shortest format, which came on the heels of the team’s historic 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. In a surprising turn of events, the star batter was preferred over Hardik Pandya for the leadership role. Hardik had long been considered the frontrunner for the captaincy, having successfully led the national team in Rohit's absence during various T20I assignments, only to ultimately lose his grip on the leadership position just before the marquee tournament.

While Suryakumar has performed admirably in his tactical duties as skipper, a recent dip in his personal batting form sparked intense debate over his long-term future at the helm. This slump has opened the door for potential successors, with Shreyas Iyer emerging as a premier contender to take over the T20I captaincy following his spectacular leadership and batting heroics with the Punjab Kings in the IPL.

Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan in fray too

The selectors are now looking for a long term solution wherein the next captain could lead India in the next two T20 World Cup events. Iyer’s experience and runs in the IPL does give him an edge, but Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan will be the two dark horses in that race to captaincy. 

If Iyer does take the captaincy mantle, one of Tilak and Ishan will be his deputy for India in the shortest format. 
The BCCI has to announce the squad for the Asian Games and India will send their first-choice team to defend the gold medal they won in 2022. 

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s recent success with the bat at the top of the order is expected to prompt the selectors to pick him in India’s T20 set up. With the top-order already boasting of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, it is expected that the left-handed opener does get a game or two in the seven T20Is that India are scheduled to play in Ireland and England, starting June 26.