New captain, teen sensation named in India’s T20I squad
India have announced their T20I squads for the upcoming series against Ireland and England, as well as Asian Games 2026.
Shreyas Iyer has been revealed as India’s new T20I captain for the upcoming tour of England and Ireland followed by Asian Games 2026.
The BCCI announced the squad for all the upcoming assignments on Saturday, June 6. A major highlight in the squad also features the teen batting sensation, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has received his virgin call-up to the India squad.
India squads
England Series: Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Ireland series: Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Asian Games:
Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh. Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Suryakumar Yadav, who captained India in their victorious ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year, hasn’t found a place in the squads for the upcoming assignments.
Top-order batsman Tilak Varma has been named as Iyer’s chief deputy. Another addition to the squad is that of Prince Yadav, who was recently named in India’s ODI team for the Afghanistan series at home.
Yadav has been included in India’s squad for both the Ireland and England tours.
On the other hand, star pacer Jaspreet Bumrah, who will be missing the Ireland and England series, will feature at the squad for the Asian Games.
The core of the squad is largely same from the T20 World Cup this year, with the likes of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh all retaining their places.
India are presently featuring against Afghanistan in a one-off Test match, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series at home.
India’s series schedule
v Ireland
June 26: 1st T20I, Belfast
June 28: 2nd T20I, Belfast
v England
July 1: 1st T20I, Chester-le-Street
July 4: 2nd T20I, Manchester
July 7: 3rd T20I, Nottingham
July 9: 4th T20I, Bristol
July 11: 5th T20I, Southampton
Winds of change swept throughout India‘s T20I set-up as Shreyas Iyer on Saturday took over the captaincy from Suryakumar Yadav, and wonder kid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi found a place in the squad for the twin tour of Ireland and England.
At 15 years and 71 days old, Sooryavanshi becomes the youngest ever player to feature in an Indian cricket team, exceeding the long-standing record held by the great Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days when he made his Test debut against Pakistan at Karachi on October 15, 1989.
India will travel to Ireland for two T20Is (June 26 and 28), followed by a five-game T20I series against England between July 1 and 11.
Shreyas has returned to the national T20 team for the first time after a match against Australia in Bengaluru on December 3, 2023.
“We have got a bit more time for the next WC, and his (Shreyas) performances as captain having won (the IPL) with KKR and a couple of good seasons with PBKS. He was very close to always being there in the team but could not find the spot,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar told media after announcing the squads for various tours.
Shreyas’ impressive leadership credentials in the IPL—
leading KKR to title in 2024 and PBKS to final in 2025 — along with two seasons of consistent outings with the bat prompted the selectors to zero in on Shreyas to replace T20 World Cup 2026 winning captain Suryakumar.
Shreyas Iyer has been confirmed as India’s new T20I captain, replacing Suryakumar Yadav who has been dropped from the team for the series in Ireland and England in June and July. The squad includes 15-year old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who received his maiden call-up to the national team as the selectors look to build towards the Los Angeles Olympics and the T20 World Cup in 2028.
Tilak Varma has replaced Axar Patel as the vice-captain of the T20I team.
Aside from Shreyas and Sooryavanshi’s inclusions, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravi Bishnoi and Prince Yadav were also brought into the squad, while Rinku Singh and Kuldeep Yadav were left out from the squad that won the T20 World Cup. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were rested.
The tour of Ireland and England is India’s first T20I series since Suryakumar, 35, led them to a successful defense of the T20 World Cup trophy in March. However, he will be 38 before the next T20 World Cup in 2028. The debate around his position emerged following a lukewarm 2026 T20 World Cup, where he scored 242 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 136.72, and a poor IPL 2026 where he made only 270 runs in 13 innings at an average of 20.76 and a strike rate of 147.54.
His successor Shreyas, 31, has not played a T20I since December 2023 due to India’s inability to find a place for him, with Suryakumar and Tilak occupying middle-order positions. Shreyas was most recently selected as an injury replacement during the home T20I series against New Zealand in January, but did not play a game because India preferred to pick the players who were going to play in the T20 World Cup that following.
Shreyas, however, has proven captaincy credentials, having led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the IPL title in 2024, and Delhi Capitals (DC) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final in 2020 and 2025. He scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07 in IPL 2025 and 498 runs at a strike rate of 168.81 in IPL 2026.
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