Suryakumar Yadav's era has ended in Indian cricket. Just over three months after the 35-year-old led India to a historic third T20 World Cup, thus becoming the first team to win the marquee event thrice, Yadav has been sacked from the Indian T20I team. Not only has he been removed from captaincy, Yadav does not find himself in the squads for the Ireland and England series along with the Asian Games too. Shreyas Iyer has been named the new T20I captain.a
Yadav's form has been below par in recent times, and it affected the BCCI's decision. Overall, Yadav has played 113 T20Is, scoring 3272 runs at an average of 36.35 and a strike rate of 162.94. However, in the recent past, his numbers have dwindled. From January 1, 2025 till March 2026, he scored 702 runs in 35 matches at an average of 26.
BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed he had a conversation with Yadav regarding the team's plans going ahead and why he was not part of it.
“With regards to Surya, obviously it's a tough one having just won the (T20) World Cup. But as it happens after most World Cups, we try and reassess what your best way forward is,” Agarkar said.
“(It was due to) partly his own form but also looking at the next two-year cycle, or a little bit more than two years now till the next World Cup, we thought this was the best way forward and like I said, Shreyas is a very deserving captain. We deliberated on it a lot, especially when someone has led you to a World Cup win. It's not the easiest sort of discussion to have, but I don't necessarily think... at some stage, we were going to look at it. Now, whether IPL form dictated it; I'm not so sure that's the case. There were always conversations around it," he added.
"I don't want to give any insight, it was between me and him (the conversation), it was not easy, but you are doing everything in the interest of the team."
Since becoming the India T20I captain in July 2024, Yadav has an average of 25.88, with six half-centuries and four ducks. It's a sharp drop from his pre-captaincy numbers. Before he got the captaincy, his average was 43.60, with four centuries and 20 half-centuries.
Under Yadav, India won the 2025 Asia Cup as well as the 2026 T20 World Cup. He was also part of the sides which won the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Asia Cup.
Yadav has always been considered a super-strong batter, plying his trade in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots. Known for playing unorthodox shots, Yadav's prowess lies in the fact that he can accelerate like none other even when the team is in trouble.
However, that was before October 2024. After scoring a half-century on October 12, 2024, against Bangladesh, his next 50-plus score came on January 23, 2026, against New Zealand. In the same series, he slammed two more half-centuries.
It was India's last T20I series before the 2026 T20 World Cup, and Yadav's form raised hope. Yadav started with an 84* against the USA in the 2026 T20 World Cup, but then could not replicate the same form.
