Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif admitted he was not too surprised to know that Suryakumar Yadav is on the verge of losing his T20I captaincy. Shreyas Iyer is expected to take over the leadership baton in the shortest format of the game.
Kaif said the selectors had set a trend when they sacked Rohit Sharma as ODI captain despite the veteran winning the 2025 ODI Champions Trophy. The former UP batter said the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel is following the same ploy.
“I am not surprised. I was only shocked when Rohit lost captaincy. After that, all this seems normal. It is a big call. But Rohit’s call was a triple bigger call than this. Because that has already happened, I feel they also want to balance it out now to show it was not only with Rohit, and this is our pattern in the future as well,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
The Natwest Trophy final hero said SKY deserves to be backed more, if not as a captain, then as a batter in the Indian team.
“I feel that Surya won the trophy as captain, so he deserves to be in the team. Yes, he is not scoring runs. But we want the trophy to be with us and for the Indian team to keep doing well. If India is doing well but Surya is not scoring, I feel you are going too deep. He is doing well as a leader, so he should get more chances. He is a proven player. He is not scoring, yes, but his record has been brilliant. The winning captain deserves to be backed more,” he stated.
Kaif reckons SKY should get another series before he is dropped from India’s T20I team.
“Virat Kohli is the biggest example. Suryakumar did not hide anywhere. Not scoring is a different thing, but when you talk about age, I feel a player gets better with age. See if he is able to run, take catches. If someone is fit, is not in form but can make a comeback, it is not easy to lead India in India with so much pressure and become a champion. He should get some benefit. If this is the case, people will not want to captain anymore and will only focus on their runs,” he said.
Indian selectors will pick the T20I squads for the UK tour on Saturday.
