India’s new T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer, who replaced Suryakumar Yadav, reacted to the news, saying that it was a great challenge to lead the team but he won’t have to change his personality and be under someone else’s shadow. Iyer, who last played a T20I match for India in 2023, was brought in as the new India captain on Saturday in Mumbai.
“I obviously loved challenges growing up, especially being from Mumbai where cricket is pretty big, the competition is high, every other kid on the street, they want to represent Mumbai asnd I faced a lot of challenges growing up. So my mindset was always about winning against everyone that I challenge. Whether it’s about learning or winning, that’s secondary but the more fun you have growing up, the more competitive nature you have, especially while playing cricket or any other sport in general, I think that takes you to another level and you want to take that sort of responsibility even when I have got this job right now or responsibility as a captain,” Iyer said in a PTI video.
“It’s a great challenge (and) at the same time, I don’t have to change my personality. I have to be the same person how I was before and not try to be someone else or be under someone’s shadow,” he added.
VIDEO | India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer said, “Being India captain is a great challenge, but I don’t need to change my personality.”
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/kk6vSJZnxn
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 7, 2026
Iyer’s first assignment as captain will be to lead India in the two-match T20I series against Ireland in Belfast on June 26 and 28. This will be followed by a five-match T20I series against England, starting in Chester-le-Street on July 1.
Surya, who led India to T20 World Cup victory on home soil in March, was not included in the squad for the Ireland and England tour nor in the 2026 Asian Games squad, to be co-hosted by the Aichi Prefecture and the city of Nagoya in Japan.
Iyer, who was appointed the ODI vice-captain in October last year, has not played a T20I since December 2023 but has built one of the strongest leadership CVs in T20 cricket, in the intervening period.
