Two IPL Stars In A 'Race' To Replace Suryakumar As India T20 Captain?

2026-05-12 02:18:36

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A superstar in T20 cricket for his explosive batting and a World Cup-winning captain who smiled at people from the billboards across the length and breadth of India, Suryakumar Yadav was in a happy space not so long ago.

Now, that toothy grin has disappeared as Yadav is battling self-doubts, and his wretched run of form has continued in the IPL 2026.

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It has come to a stage where there is a real possibility of him losing his T20 captaincy - just months after leading India to an unforgettable World Cup victory on home soil.

But the World Cup win, which followed India's dominant victory at last year's Asia Cup in Dubai, papered over the cracks in his batting.

All he could manage in the Asia Cup was a tally of 72 runs from seven matches.

He found some form at home against New Zealand last January, scoring three half-centuries as India won the five-match T20 series, a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, 4-1.

In the World Cup, his only big contribution with the bat was an unbeaten 84 against minnows USA.

The 35-year-old made 11 in the semifinal against England before being dismissed for a first-ball duck in the final against New Zealand.

Now, as Mumbai Indians have bowed out of the IPL playoffs race with a string of poor performances, one of their biggest disappointments is the performance of Yadav.

For a batter who played an immense role in the Mumbai Indians' back-to-back IPL triumphs in 2019 and 2020, Yadav is woefully out of form, scoring just 195 runs at 17.72 in 11 matches.

His batting struggle has now led to an intense media speculation that Yadav will lose his India T20 captaincy after the IPL.

India, who are scheduled to play seven T20 Internationals in Ireland and England later this year, are all set to get a new captain in the Twenty20 format, according to reports in the Indian media.

So, who is likely to replace Yadav as the skipper?

Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer have emerged as the biggest contenders for the top job.

Iyer, a terrific middle-order batter in white-ball cricket, led Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL victory in 2024.

Last year, he came close to winning the IPL again, only to see his new team, the Punjab Kings, lose the final to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru by a narrow margin.

Now, despite a mid-season slump, Punjab Kings are still in the race for a playoff berth with Iyer impressive again both as a captain and a batter, having scored 392 runs in 11 matches at 56.

If the Ajit Agarkar-led Indian selection committee appoints Iyer as the captain, it will be a remarkable turnaround for the Mumbaikar, who hasn't played a T20 International since 2023.

A regular in the ODI team, Iyer has struggled to break into the T20I team in recent years as India has an embarrassment of riches in the shortest format of the game.

Samson, the other contender, is a curious case. In and out of the Indian team, the wicketkeeper-batter became the toast of a cricket-mad country with three back-to-back match-winning performances in the T20 World Cup, which even earned him the Player-of-the-Tournament award.

Having only played two matches - one in the group stage and one in Super Eight - with modest returns, Samson scripted one of the greatest redemption stories in cricket.

His stunning 80-plus scores against the West Indies (in the do-or-die Super Eight clash), England (semifinal) and New Zealand (final) earned him a place in the pantheon of World Cup legends.

The Kerala player has now also become a fan favourite at Chepauk, the home ground of Chennai Super Kings, his new team in the IPL.

Following the injury of Chennai talisman MS Dhoni, Samson is rising to the challenge, keeping the five-time champions' playoff hopes alive, scoring 431 runs in 11 matches with two hundreds.

Remarkably, it's the Iyer-led Punjab (in fourth place with 13 points from 11 games) and Chennai (fifth in the standings with 12 points from 11 games) who are among seven teams jostling for the top four places.

Having led Rajasthan Royals for several seasons, Samson is now playing purely as a wicketkeeper-batter for the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings.

But now it seems, with every important knock the 31-year-old plays for Chennai in the rest of the tournament, his chances of getting the top job in Indian cricket will get bigger and bigger.

The Indian captaincy rumours could also serve as extra motivation for Iyer, who will hope to inspire Punjab - currently on a four-match losing streak - to pull off a dramatic comeback in the gruelling playoff fight.

This undeclared battle for the national team captaincy between two of India's finest limited-overs batters promises to keep fans on the edge of their seats - just like a nail-biting Super Over thriller.