Suryakumar Yadav set to be removed as India captain after T20 World Cup 2026

A shocking development has come to the fore, as star cricketer Suryakumar Yadav will reportedly be removed as India's T20I captain after the end of the T20 World Cup in 2026. A new leader is set to take over the charge as the wrecker-in-chief from Suryakumar, with current vice-captain Shubman Gill being the frontrunner for a promotion, making him India's captain across all international formats.

Suryakumar has been in poorest of forms in T20Is, since his debut in 2021. In all of 2025, the Mumbai cricketer has been able to garner only 218 runs after 21 matches, averaging only 13.62. Since 2024, the star batter has not scored a single half-century, which adds to the woes of his form. Moreover, Suryakumar ages 35, and the BCCI is in a mood to replace him with a youngster.

As reported by India Today, the selection committee wanted to remove Suryakumar much earlier, but the plan has now been postponed, as the global tournament is just a few months away. The team will not want to experiment with a change in captaincy ahead of an important event, as a result of which, Suryakumar's captaincy stint has been stretched by a little further.

Deputy Shubman Gill, however, himself has struggled to get going with the bat. In the recently-concluded series against South Africa, Gill scored only 32 runs. A leg injury ruled him out of the fifth and final match, where the backup opener and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson impressed with a solid 37 off 21 balls. As a result, Gill will also have to show some serious promise and prove himself with performances ahead of getting captaincy in the shortest format of the game.

For the unversed, the BCCI has confirmed that their squad for the twenty-team event will be officially unveiled on Saturday, December 20 from its Mumbai headquarters. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar is expected to read out the official squad following the meeting in a public press conference. Suryakumar, who is going to lead India at the tournament, will also be sitting alongside Agarkar.