Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of the Indian cricket team, will have a big say in what happens next with Suryakumar Yadav’s role as T20I captain. Even though India isn’t scheduled to play any T20Is against Afghanistan in this series, the selectors and secretary Devajit Saikia plan to talk informally about Suryakumar’s future. He’s been under fire lately because his form has dropped, and his poor IPL 2026 run with Mumbai Indians hasn’t helped at all. PTI reports that the selection committee is likely to go over plans for who takes up the T20I captaincy next during their meeting in Guwahati on Tuesday.
They’re getting together to pick the squads for the one-off Test and the ODI series with Afghanistan, but they’ll also start sorting out options for T20I matches on the upcoming tours in Ireland and England. This is the first selection meeting since India clinched the T20 World Cup, with Suryakumar leading the charge as captain.
Now, the Indian Test team doesn’t expect many surprises, but Rishabh Pant’s spot as vice-captain in red-ball cricket is up for serious debate. The selectors meeting in Guwahati will decide who makes the cut for the Test and ODI squads against Afghanistan, and Pant is definitely part of that conversation.
People around the team feel that the leadership role isn’t really suiting Pant. His time spent as captain for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL hasn’t inspired much confidence. Plus, Pant didn’t seem especially sharp tactically when he captained in place of Shubman Gill against South Africa last November in Guwahati.
A BCCI insider told PTI, “Indian cricket can’t afford to lose a match-winner like Rishabh. He’s set up and won Tests with his aggressive batting. But the sense is, whenever he’s given extra responsibility, he struggles to make good batting decisions.” The selectors want him to play without the weight of captaincy so he can bring out his best.
Pant’s current form isn’t exactly reassuring either. Questions about his place as India’s second wicketkeeper in ODIs, right behind KL Rahul, are keeping the selectors up at night. With Dhruv Jurel, Sanju Samson, and Ishan Kishan all in the mix, Pant’s spot in the 50-over format suddenly looks a lot less secure.
