The Indian Cricket Team is set to enter a new era as Shreyas Iyer has been named as India’s T20I captain, replacing Suryakumar Yadav, who has been dropped from the squads for the upcoming Ireland and England T20Is.

Tilak Varma has been named as the captain, while the 15-year old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has received his maiden call-up.

Shreyas Iyer will be returning to India’s T20I setup for the first time since December 2023. The announcement hints at a major transition in India’s White-ball plans as the team begins building towards the next T20 World Cup cycle and the Asian Games later this year.

Speaking on his appointment, chairman of the chief selectors Ajit Agarkar said, “With regards to Shreyas, obviously we’ve seen what he’s done over the last few years, leading different franchises. He’s won one and reached finals as well, and probably had a tougher season this year after a great start. So we’ve seen everything that a captain possibly can.”

Shreyas Iyer has been consistent in the T20 format since his last international appearance in the short format. He captained the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title in the 2024 season before guiding the Punjab Kings in the finals in the 2025 season.

His batting has also been impressive during this period, which includes a maiden IPL century and 498 runs in the recently concluded season.

“His own performances have been really good. He was quite close to getting into that World Cup squad as well. Obviously, with Surya still there, there was no room for him. He’s, in my opinion, a standout candidate, with enough experience now, having led in the T20 format. This is obviously a different challenge,” Agarkar added.

Despite Punjab Kings missing the IPL 2026 playoffs, Shreyas Iyer enjoyed another productive campaign, scoring 498 runs at an average of 55.23 at a strike rate of 168.81.

He will be leading India’s T20I squad for the upcoming England and Ireland tours, which are set to be played starting in the last week of June.