New Delhi, April 14: Suryakumar Yadav may have led India to an impressive T20 World Cup title defence but given his patchy batting form, serious questions remain on whether he will be in the scheme of things for the country’s Los Angeles Olympics campaign in 2028.
And in this backdrop, India’s tour of England and Ireland in June-July will be crucial for the skipper as more than his captaincy, his batting would be under scrutiny.The tour could decide whether he will be given another two years till the next phase of big events in 2028 which includes the Olympics and T20 World Cup in Australia.
Suryakumar still remains the first choice for head coach Gautam Gambhir, who is expecting a contract extension till the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia.
However, it will be interesting to see whether the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee agrees with his view as the T20 skipper will be pushing 38 at the time of Olympics.
“Obviously Surya is now leading the team. But he also has to ensure that as a batter, he maintains a level of consistency in his performances. Obviously, he will lead in the UK but after that, discussions going forward till 2028 could be purely performance-based,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Suryakumar had a torrid 2025 in which his strike rate dropped to less than 120 and he couldn’t manage a single fifty.
It changed in 2026, when he scored four half centuries till the end of the T20 World Cup at a good strike rate of 160 plus.
However, at the T20 World Cup, save the first game against the USA, Suryakumar didn’t have performances of note.When faced with big teams, his scores were 18 (against South Africa), 18 (against West Indies), 11 vs England (semi-final) and 0 in final against New Zealand.
With India boasting of tremendous firepower in top three and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi yet to be unleashed, Suryakumar needs to find the consistency that keeps him in strong stead.
Vaibhav vs Ireland or Asian Games
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s name has been put in the list of 35 T20 specialists that the national selectors have picked as probables for the T20I leg of the Ireland tour in June-July.There is no doubt that Sooryavanshi will surpass Sachin Tendulkar as the youngest senior India men’s team debutant as he will be months short of 16.
The selection panel is considering whether it will be the tour of Ireland in June, or the trip to Zimbabwe after that or one among the West Indies home T20Is and the Asian Games in Japan come September.
“The selectors were asked by the BCCI logistics department to give at least 35 names whose Irish visa needed to be kept sorted,” a BCCI source told PTI. (PTI)
