India’s journey to the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand begins in Ireland and England, under the new T20I captain, Shreyas Iyer. Barely three months after winning a second successive T20 World Cup title, the selectors made a bold call by removing Suryakumar Yadav, who won 84 per cent of his games as India captain, from the leadership role. They also recalled Iyer to a format in which he last played, in 2023, and immediately handed him the reins.

The move comes on the back of his impressive captaincy in T20 cricket for his domestic side, Mumbai, and IPL teams Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings. Since 2024, Iyer has won 36 of the 55 games he has captained, including title-winning campaigns with Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL in 2024. In 2025, he also guided Punjab Kings to the IPL final.

“It’s a tough decision (to leave out Suryakumar), someone who led you in the World Cup. But we’ve not had any international cricket after that World Cup. Partly the form, but partly also how we go forward is always at the back of your mind. And moving ahead, with a new captain, in this case Shreyas, was, in our view, the right call,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said.

Yet, despite the change in leadership, much of the buzz will centre on 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, whose extraordinary last 12 months have earned him a maiden T20I call-up.

During those 12 months, Sooryavanshi has launched top-ranked international bowlers into the stands, travelled on age-group developmental tours and won the ICC Under-19 World Cup with a blistering 175 in the final. Just days ago, he lit up Sri Lanka with a world-record 11-ball half-century in List A cricket.

Such a sensational start to his career made it difficult for the Agarkar-led selection committee to delay the opener’s entry into the senior side, even if it meant disrupting an established top three comprising T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament Sanju Samson, the explosive Abhishek Sharma and an in-form Ishan Kishan.

A debut in Ireland could well be on the cards for Sooryavanshi, but the only question is: in place of whom?

“I think he (Sooryavanshi) has just picked himself,” Agarkar said. “With his performances, he has almost forced us to pick him with how well he has played. For a young kid, I don’t need to talk about how well he is playing. And it’s not just this season, he had a great start last season.”

The World Cup-winning squad also has a few fresh faces, with Iyer himself among them, effectively replacing Suryakumar, whose prolonged dip in form over the last 10 months, during which he managed 674 runs in 28 T20I innings and just 314 runs in IPL 2026, made it difficult for Agarkar to persist with him any longer.

Tilak Varma’s elevation to the vice-captaincy is another notable appointment in the T20I setup. His regular captaincy stints for India A sides suggest the management sees him as a potential leader for the future.

Beyond Sooryavanshi’s role in the next seven T20Is, two against Ireland and five against England, another player to watch is Suryansh Shedge.

The pace-bowling all-rounder was drafted in late after Nitish Kumar Reddy, someone the Gautam Gambhir-led management had been grooming as Hardik Pandya’s backup, was ruled out with a quadricep injury.

Shedge’s stock has steadily risen over the last couple of years through impactful lower-order performances for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, strong displays for Punjab Kings under Iyer, and a recent stint with India A in Sri Lanka.

The returns of Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna, along with the inclusion of Prince Yadav, also reflect India’s long-term planning with Australia in mind. With Australian conditions expected to reward height and pace, the management appears keen to build its fast-bowling depth early. Prince, who recently made his ODI debut, could now be in line for his maiden T20I cap as well.

Post the T20Is, India will play three ODIs in England, where Shubman Gill’s side will continue shaping its squad for next year’s World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

The series will mark Jasprit Bumrah’s return to the format, his first since the heartbreaking loss to Australia in the 2023 World Cup final. Injuries and workload management have kept Bumrah away from ODIs for nearly two years, but his presence will be vital as India fine-tunes its combinations in pursuit of another memorable World Cup campaign, this time with the aim of going all the way.

Even in the 50-over format, India appears to be zeroing in on tall, hit-the-deck bowlers, and in Gurnoor Brar, the management may have found another reserve option alongside Bumrah, Prasidh, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit, Arshdeep Singh and Prince.

“It’s very encouraging. These are great signs for Indian cricket that we can keep producing fast bowlers who consistently bowl at 140-plus,” captain Gill said.

“We have a good bunch of tall, fast bowlers who can hit the right areas and still create opportunities with the old ball, even when there’s not much help from the wicket or the conditions.

“We’re trying different combinations, and we encourage our bowlers to give everything regardless of whether they’re bowling with the new ball or as first change,” he explained.

The stakeholders will hope both Hardik and Reddy are fully fit by 2027 to not only bolster the lower middle order but also provide 10 quality overs, giving India the balance every side craves. Should either of them fail to remain fully fit, Shedge’s development over the next 12 months could become a key subplot.

In the batting department, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma now limited to the ODI setup, the duo will once again be in the spotlight across the three games. While Rohit had a couple of decent outings against Afghanistan, Kohli missed the series with a hamstring injury, a rarity in his long and largely unscathed career.

India’s squad is more or less settled, but with several quality players knocking on the door, competition for places is bound to intensify, increasing the pressure on incumbents to make an impact.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was an unfortunate omission on this tour, largely due to Kishan’s resurgence as a multi-dimensional option capable of slotting in anywhere across the top five.

The depth waiting in the wings, and the fact that even Rohit is not guaranteed a place in the World Cup squad, underlines the importance of these bilateral assignments, beginning in England.

Published on Jun 26, 2026