CHENNAI: Expectedly, Shreyas Iyer was announced the new T20I captain of India by the Indian cricket board on Saturday afternoon. BCCI secretary Devjit Saikia and chairman of senior men's selection committee Ajit Agarkar announced the T20I squads for the 2026 Asian Games, India tours of England and Ireland. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old batting sensation from Bihar, also found a place in all three squads.
Iyer replaced his Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav, who was struggling with bat despite leading the team to its second T20 World Cup crown earlier this year. Given his below-par returns with the bat for India and his IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, Yadav was dropped from the squad.
Another Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma was named the new vice-captain in the shortest format. Interestingly, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah was rested from the T20I series against England and Ireland but was named in the squad for the Asian Games. Besides, Delhi's right-arm pacer Prince Yadav was awarded for his good show in the 2026 IPL where he claimed 16 wickets for Lucknow Super Giants in 14 matches. He will be the part of the 16-member team touring England and Ireland for T20Is.
Another Delhi pacer, Harshit Rana, who got injured during a warm-up match before the start of the T20 World Cup has also made his comeback and found a place in all the three squads.
Iyer, who was appointed the ODI vice-captain in October last year, has not played a T20I since December 2023. However, he excelled in T20s leading Kolkata Knight Riders to their first IPL title in 10 years in 2024. He then captained Punjab Kings to the IPL final the next year where they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
"We played the T20 WC in 2024 June and this was in March. Shreyas has been impressive especially with the bat he deserves to be in the team. And then as captain of KKR and Punjab. It was just that Surya and Tilak were there, he couldn't come," Agarkar told the journalists during the press conference. Speaking of Suryakumar, the chief selector said, "With SKY, it is a conversation between me and him. He is a captain who just won the World Cup. It is not the easiest chat, you are doing it in the interest of the team going forward."
Sooryavanshi won the Orange Cap for his stellar show while playing for Rajasthan Royals during this edition of the IPL where he scored 776 runs in 16 matches at a staggering strike rate of 228.95. He scored a century and five fifties during the league. Agarkar admitted his jaw-dropping performance made selectors pick him for the senior squad. "His performances have made us pick him in the format he has excelled. He is a kid, he is just starting. When the domestic season starts, he will play for the team and we will see what he does. Why jump the gun? Right now, we are focussed on keeping him on the right path."
Meanwhile, Agarkar also informed that Yashasvi Jaiswal will replace Virat Kohli for the Afghanistan ODIs while Rohit Sharma will report to the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in coming days. India will play two T20Is in Ireland one each on June 26 and June 28. They will play five T20Is in England starting on July 1 and three ODIs.
Squads: Asian Games: Shreyas (C), Tilak, Vaibhav, Samson, Kishan, Abhishek, Reddy, Axar, Washington, Bishnoi, Varun, Arshdeep, Bumrah, Dube, Sooryavanshi.
England and Ireland: Shreyas (C), Tilak, Vaibhav, Samson, Kishan, Abhishek, Reddy, Axar, Washington, Bishnoi, Varun, Arshdeep, Siraj, Dube, Sooryavanshi, Prince Yadav
India A squad for SL multi-day tour: Jurel (C), Sai Sudharsan, Padikkal, Gaikwad, Jagadeesan, Kamboj, Ayush Pandey, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi, Shaik Rasheed, Zeeshan Ansari.