Former Indian cricket team batter Mohammad Kaif backed Shreyas Iyer to succeed Suryakumar Yadav as the next T20I captain. Media reports claimed that Suryakumar is also set to be replaced as the India T20I captain by Shreyas ahead of the series in Ireland and England. Kaif said that Shreyas was ‘miles ahead’ of the other contenders and also pointed at his partnership with head coach Gautam Gambhir during Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL 2024 title-winning campaign. “Gautam has worked before with Shreyas and won the trophy for KKR. Shreyas got Delhi and Punjab to the final. In terms of experience, Shreyas has led in the IPL, won the trophy and understands Gautam’s pattern.”
“In terms of that mutual understanding, Shreyas seems to be the frontrunner. He is miles ahead of the other contenders. He has even scored runs while being captain. You will find very few players who are captains and also score. There is no choice better than him,” he said on YouTube.
Shreyas has been quite impressive in the last two IPL seasons as he was brilliant with the bat and also guided Punjab Kings to the final in 2025. Kaif said that removing a World Cup-winning captain like Suryakumar can lead to chaos in the team but in this kind of situation, appointing Shreyas does not feel like a big call.
“When you are removing a World Cup-winning captain, there can be no bigger chaos than that. When all these calls have been taken, this is not a big call,” he stated.
Kaif also said that Jasprit Bumrah would have been a deserving choice to replace Suryakumar as captain.
“Jasprit Bumrah is deserving if you look at it. He has been in Surya’s team, he has played for long and delivered. If he is ready for captaincy, he should be the first above all other names. He captained MI as well, and they won that game. He even gave a statement, which shows that he has that desire to captain. I don’t know about his fitness and participation, but in that sense, no one should even be close to him, because he has been in the team and done well in different conditions,” he said.
“They have gone beyond Pandya. At one point, I myself had asked why he was not being made captain. Gill will not come back, as he was tried and he also did not score, so they have gone past him too. I am saying myself now that Hardik should not even be a franchise captain. Maybe he can be a better captain outside MI, maybe. If he wants to stay in MI, do not be the captain,” Mohammad Kaif expressed.