Former Indian legend opens up on removing Suryakumar Yadav as T20I captain, says …

Former India wicketkeeper and chief selector MSK Prasad on Thursday cautioned against removing Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the men’s T20I side, saying such a move at this stage would not be the right one and that selectors should instead look to groom younger leaders from now onwards.

Despite a few half‑centuries in the bilateral series against New Zealand earlier this year and a match-winning knock in the T20 World Cup opening game against the USA, consistency has eluded Suryakumar. After India won the T20 World Cup under his leadership, Suryakumar’s form dipped further in IPL 2026, where he managed only 270 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 147.54, with just two fifties.

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With India’s selectors set to meet in Mumbai on Saturday for selecting squads for the two games against Ireland, to be played on June 26 and 28, followed by five T20Is in England from July 1 to 11, apart from picking India ‘A’ squad for the two red-ball games against Sri Lanka ‘A’, Suryakumar’s future as the T20I captain will be a hot topic of discussion.

“See, are you sending your first team or are you sending your second level? That’s the biggest concern. So, if they are sending the first team, I think overlooking Surya is not the right thing to do because he just handed over one more Men’s T20 World Cup to us.

“So, ideally, probably next 5‑6 months or now you have to get ready with your next leaders, right? Axar Patel was your vice-captain till the T20 World Cup win. Ideally, if you look at it, you have to look forward to the younger leaders. So, if you can identify such leaders and make a deputy to Surya, it will be nice to see. Surya is a phenomenal player,” Prasad told IANS in an exclusive conversation on Thursday.

Prasad admitted that Suryakumar has endured a lean patch but urged patience towards him. “I know that he has gone through a rough patch in the last 1-1.5 years. Of course, we have other players like Rajat Patidar coming up, and they also deserve their places. “So, what I would like to say is that, removing Surya at this stage, I think, is not the right signal. Give him a couple of series, and if his lean patch continues, then you have a deputy to whom you can hand over the captaincy baton.“

With IANS Inputs.