Sanju Samson Challenge For Shreyas Iyer' T20I Captaincy Claim, New Details Emerge: Report
Sanju Samson is reportedly among the top contenders to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India's T20I captain, with Shreyas Iyer the other one.
- Suryakumar Yadav's tenure as India's T20I captain is reportedly under review
- Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson are contenders to replace Suryakumar as T20I captain
- Samson's consistent presence in the T20 squad reportedly favours his captaincy claim
Suryakumar Yadav's days as India's T20I captain look numbered, with sources and reports suggesting the names of players who are ready to take over the mantle from him. After NDTV reported that Shreyas Iyer is being looked at as India's next T20I captain, a further report has claimed that Sanju Samson is also in the race. The wicket-keeper batter has enjoyed a brilliant run of form with the bat since joining the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. Although he is not the captain of the franchise, his past experience leading the Rajasthan Royals and his overall reputation as a captain seem to have put him in contention.
The Indian team is scheduled to tour England and Ireland in June and July for a white-ball series. The squad selection for these tours will heavily rely on IPL performances. In this regard, Suryakumar Yadav's performance has been quite poor, whereas both Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer are among the top run-getters.
Why Sanju Samson?
According to a report in Dainik Jagran, the factor that favours Samson in the race to succeed Suryakumar as India's next T20I captain is his consistent presence in the Indian T20 squad.
He has been with the team since the 2024 T20 World Cup and has proven himself on the international stage. In 62 matches, he has scored 1,399 runs, including three centuries and six half-centuries. He was also influential in India's T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year.
The report argues that although Iyer is in good form and scoring runs for Punjab Kings this season in the IPL, he has been absent from the T20 international side. He played his last T20 match for India on 3 December 2023. Hence, returning to the shortest format and being named captain might be too big a jump, even for a player of Iyer's stature.
It has also been reported that the BCCI selection committee might persist with Suryakumar for the Ireland and England T20Is, but another run of poor form could see him replaced.
India Cricket Team
Sanju Samson