Suryakumar Yadav may have led India to an impressive T20 World Cup title defence but given his patchy batting form, serious questions remain on whether he will be in the scheme of things for the country’s Los Angeles Olympics campaign in 2028. And in this backdrop, India’s tour of England and Ireland in June-July will be crucial for the skipper as more than his captaincy, his batting would be under scrutiny.

The tour could decide whether he will be given another two years till the next phase of big events in 2028 which includes the Olympics and T20 World Cup in Australia. Suryakumar still remains the first choice for head coach Gautam Gambhir, who is expecting a contract extension till the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia.

However, it will be interesting to see whether the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee agrees with his view as the T20 skipper will be pushing 38 at the time of Olympics. “Obviously Surya is now leading the team. But he also has to ensure that as a batter, he maintains a level of consistency in his performances. Obviously, he will lead in the UK but after that, discussions going forward till 2028 could be purely performance-based,” a BCCI source said.

Suryakumar had a torrid 2025 in which his strike rate dropped to less than 120 and he couldn’t manage a single fifty. It changed in 2026, when he scored four half centuries till the end of the T20 World Cup at a good strike rate of 160 plus. However, at the T20 World Cup, save the first game against the USA, Suryakumar didn’t have performances of note.

When faced with big teams, his scores were 18 (against South Africa), 18 (against West Indies), 11 vs England (semi-final) and 0 in final against New Zealand. With India boasting of tremendous firepower in top three and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi yet to be unleashed, Suryakumar needs to find the consistency that keeps him in strong stead.

Sooryavanshi in reckoning

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s name has been put in the list of 35 T20 specialists that the national selectors have picked as probables for the T20I leg of the Ireland tour in June-July. There is no doubt that Sooryavanshi will surpass Sachin Tendulkar as the youngest senior India men’s team debutant as he will be months short of 16. The selection panel is considering whether it will be the tour of Ireland in June, or the trip to Zimbabwe after that or one among the West Indies home T20Is and the Asian Games in Japan come September.

“The selectors were asked by the BCCI logistics department to give at least 35 names whose Irish visa needed to be kept sorted. Since the Indian team’s first port of entry will be Ireland and not England, the UK visa won’t work. Everyone requires separate Irish visa,” a BCCI source said.

It is understood that while selectors, instead of naming 15, could well select 16 or 17, it will be too many for a two-game series in Belfast. “The selection committee is convinced that Vaibhav is ready but then you are talking about Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan. All three are half centurions in the T20 World Cup final. If you take a fourth opener, then Yashasvi Jaiswal is also there,” the source said.

“Vaibhav is ready but national selectors need to give very good reasons to drop Abhishek or Sanju. Because if you drop either one, question arises how is Surya keeping his place?” the source added. So when would Sooryavanshi make his debut? “It could be the UK tour or Zimbabwe. But the best platform could be Asian Games or the West Indies home series as these two are overlapping so there will be two T20 squads,” the source said. “Vaibhav will play one of the two if not earlier.”

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