India have barely finished celebrating their 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup triumph, but in typical fashion, cricket has already hit fast forward. It feels eerily similar to 2024, when the confetti has settled, Rohit Sharma has called time on his T20I career and Rahul Dravid has stepped aside and quietly triggered a reset. History now seems to be flirting with a sequel, with Suryakumar Yadav in his mid-30s and Shreyas Iyer waiting in the wings as a very convincing stand-in.
To be fair, the captaincy is not an issue. Why not when Suryakumar has just become the first captain to successfully defend the Men’s T20 World Cup title. That’s old stuff. The real plot twist lies elsewhere, with the bat.
Yes, there was that scintillating 84 against the USA, the kind of innings that reminds you why he’s in the casino. But the eight innings that followed? Only 158 rides. A quiet stretch, capped by a duck against New Zealand in the final. Not the kind of addition you’d expect. Is India already planning a T20I captain change? (Photo by Reuters)
And now comes the interesting part. UK tour later this year, with side plots quietly building in the background. Because it’s not just another bilateral series, it could very well shape what’s to come. With the Los Angeles Olympics and the 2028 T20 World Cup on the horizon, every innings starts to carry a little more weight.
Which brings us to the man waiting in the shadows. Shreyas Iyer. Form, control and increasingly a check box in a shorter format. If Suryakumar finds his rhythm again, the script remains intact. If not, India already has an alternative ready.
CAPTAIN SHREYAS STILL RISING
Shreyas Iyer wasn’t exactly screaming for attention. It just quietly collects the results.
Think about it. They took Delhi Capitals to their first ever IPL final in 2020. Then it was even better with Kolkata Knight Riders and they lifted the title in 2024. This was followed by dragging Punjab Kings to the final in 2025. And in IPL 2026, has a PBKS sitting at the top of the table. Different teams, different settings, same result. Iyer leaves things better than he found them.
What really stands out is how calm he keeps things when things start to get messy. No panic buttons, no overreactions. Clear calls are enough. Bring back a youngster here, shuffle a pitcher there, adjust things mid-game without it looking like a brawl. His teams tend to reflect that. Organized, confident and rarely rattled. Shreyas Iyer matched his captaincy brilliance with equally strong performances with the bat. (Photo by Reuters)
It’s not just about the IPL. At home, he led Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in 2024-25 and did not forget about his day-to-day work with the bat. In the Ranji Trophy that season, he scored 480 runs in five matches at an average of 68.57 and struck at 90.22. Not bad for someone juggling captaincy and expectations.
Voters noticed it too. He was named India’s ODI vice-captain for the tour of Australia and brought back into the T20I squad against New Zealand. He didn’t get any play there, but the message was clear. He’s back in the conversation.
And here’s the part that really stands out. Iyer has not played a T20I since Australia’s tour of India in December 2023. Since then, he has made just 1,508 runs in 47 T20 matches at a strike rate of 171.16. No noise. Just numbers and lots of them.
SHREYAS CAPTAIN FOR INDIA?
Shreyas Iyer has built a reputation as a proper player captain, and that doesn’t come out of nowhere. Working closely with Ricky Ponting, a three-time ODI World Cup winner, has clearly left its mark. Their time together at Delhi Capitals, where they reached the final, only strengthened that bond and gave Iyer a front-row seat in elite management. Shreyas and Ponting formed a winning combination for the captain coach. (Photo: PTI)
This influence shows in the way he treats his players. Ask Vijaykumar Vyshak, who was part of the Punjab Kings set-up. The fast bowler didn’t hold back when talking about Iyer’s leadership, even going as far as backing him to lead India in the near future.
“I think he is someone who has always supported his bowlers and players. It doesn’t matter if you have done well or not, that is something very important for a bowler. He has done exceptionally well in this format and played for India. I am sure he will be India’s captain soon,” Vyshak said during a roundtable with India Today.
“He’s someone who keeps the environment very light. He talks to all the players the same way, whether it’s Ricky Ponting, me or whoever. That’s something that made us more comfortable. I can talk to him anytime. I mean, his door is always open. He doesn’t lock the door,” he added.
There was a time last year when Iyer almost added another chapter to his captaincy story. He had a chance to become the first captain to win the IPL with two different teams, but Punjab Kings fell short in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
This season, however, the story seems far from over. With IPL 2026 nearing the halfway mark, PBKS are still unbeaten under his leadership. It’s early days, but if this run continues and ends with the title, it will be hard to ignore the growing case for Iyer as India’s next T20I captain.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
21 Apr 2026 08:23 IST
