Suryakumar Yadav’s slump opens door for Shreyas Iyer in T20 squad

Bengaluru: As Suryakumar Yadav’s fortunes dip as sharply as a panic-stricken bear market, two names are being seriously discussed as his potential replacements in India’s T20 squad: Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper, and Shreyas Iyer, his counterpart at Punjab Kings. Both are scoring heavily, striking even more impressively, and their teams currently occupy the top two spots in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

It's interesting that Shreyas and Patidar are in conversation and not Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill, who lost his T20 place just ahead of the T20 World Cup at the start of the year, despite sitting in the second position in the most run-makers list with 265 runs in this Indian Premier League. One of the main reasons could be that Gill opens the innings while Shreyas and Patidar bat at No. 4, a position Suryakumar has occupied most often for India. But Shreyas' proven international career, across formats, gives him a clear edge.  

Suryakumar has endured a prolonged slump in form stretching back to the T20 World Cup. In nine matches in the marquee ICC event, he managed only 177 runs at a strike rate of 136.72, well below his career mark of 162.94. After a sublime unbeaten 84 n.o. that helped India avoid an embarrassing loss to the USA in the tournament opener in Mumbai, the 35-year-old scored just 93 runs across his next eight innings. India’s triumphant campaign masked his struggles, but the poor form has continued into the IPL, where his scores read 16, 51, 6, 33, 0 and 15.

While Suryakumar struggles to regain his mojo, Shreyas has been making all the right noises. He is batting like a dream and his captaincy style has come in for high praise. Affectionately referred to as the Sarpanch (village head) in PBKS camp for his tough love towards his team-mates, Shreyas' leadership credentials need no certificate. He led PBKS to the final last year after guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title in 2024. Surprisingly, the Kolkata franchise, in their infinite wisdom, decided to release the right-hander ahead of the 2025 season. And that has proven to be PBKS' gain and KKR's unmitigated loss.    

Suryakumar, the only other batter to earn the sobriquet 360 degrees for his range of strokes, isn't a finished chapter in Indian cricket yet. He is a match winner on his day, but past glory and occasional flashes of brilliance aren't good enough to sustain your place in a national team that is teeming with outrageous talent with an equally capable bunch waiting on the fringes.

Suryakumar needs to string together a good set of scores to retain the confidence of selectors, who haven't shied away from taking tough calls in recent times. Suryakumar would be well aware of that as he was appointed the T20 captain, ahead of Hardik Pandya after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format. And then, under his captaincy, he saw Gill, his designated deputy, being eased out of India's T20 squad after a few low scores.

India's next T20 assignment is in June when they visit Ireland (two T20Is) and England (three T20Is), so Suryakumar perhaps has only the remainder of IPL to justify his continuance in the Indian team. The assessment may seem a bit of a stretch considering the fact that he successfully helped India defend the T20 WC title, but recent decisions by the selection panel indicate a clear lack of sentimentality. The Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are other examples of its approach.

Also, IPL is as good a platform as any to judge a players' utility to the national team. After all, Suryakumar broke into the Indian team based on his IPL exploits.