Not Shreyas Iyer, Gautam Gambhir Wants This Player As Next T20I Captain
Gautam Gambhir is advocating for Sanju Samson to replace Suryakumar Yadav as T20I captain, while BCCI selectors express concerns over Samson and Ishan Kishan's consistency.
Team India's head coach Gautam Gambhir is reportedly in favour of Sanju Samson taking over Suryakumar Yadav as the next T20I captain. According to a PTI report, the BCCI selectors are against him and Ishan Kishan being appointed in the role because they do not think they can be ‘consistent for a prolonged period of time’. This means only Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma remain as possible successors to Surya.
The report stated that Gambhir has 'reservations' about Shreyas, with whom he worked during the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) successful and championship-winning IPL 2024 campaign. There were rumours at the time that Shreyas believed his contribution to the victory was eclipsed by Gambhir's role as the team mentor.
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No More Suryakumar Yadav?
The T20I leadership change is expected to be one of the topics of discussion at tomorrow's meeting of the BCCI's governing committee. Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, and Ishan Kishan are in contention for the position, according to sources who spoke with Times Now. The Men in Blue will play seven games, two in Ireland (June 26 and 28) and five in England (July 1 to July 11) under the leadership of a new captain.
Despite leading India to their historic third T20 World Cup in his last assignment, Suryakumar might lose his captaincy. Following the 2024 T20 World Cup victory, Rohit Sharma retired, and the 35-year-old assumed captaincy.
India has an almost perfect record and has won every bilateral series and competition they have participated in under Suryakumar's leadership. This includes victories in the T20 World Cup in 2026 and the Asia Cup in 2025. India has won 42 of its 52 T20Is under his leadership, setting a record victory percentage of 84%.
But since taking over, his batting form has declined. He has only scored 932 runs with an average of 25.88 and a strike rate of 152.03 in 45 games since July 2024. During this time, he has only scored six half-centuries.
After years of being a run machine for the Mumbai Indians (MI), the 35-year-old also experienced a rough patch in the 2026 edition of IPL. He only scored 270 runs in 13 innings during the 2026 IPL.
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