Sooryavanshi earns maiden call-up, Shreyas named new T20I captain

As expected, Shreyas Iyer has excelled in his new role as captain of the Indian T20I team. The selectors confirmed the inclusion of teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi when they announced the squads for the tours of Ireland and England. The new vice-captain will be Tilak Varma, one of Ishan Kishan's rivals for the captaincy. Harshit Rana returns to the squads after making his last competitive appearance at the beginning of February. After the decision was made to move on from India's T20 World Cup-winning skipper due to his poor run of form, Iyer was the favorite to take over from Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar's IPL returns in 2026 were also subpar, and he was struggling to make an impact with the bat for India in recent times. On the other hand, Iyer's stock has been rising ever since he made his most recent T20I appearance for India in December 2023. He won a lot of praise as a leader over the last three seasons, leading Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title in 2024 and Punjab Kings to a final in 2025. During the time when India won consecutive T20 World Cup titles, his batsmanship has also improved in the Indian Premier League. He made more than 600 runs in a season for the first time in his IPL career in 2025, and he followed that up with 498 runs in his most recent season, which also included his first ton in his final match. Despite being only 15 years old, Sooryavanshi's meteoric rise over the past year has resulted in him earning a spot. Sooryavanshi swept the awards in IPL 2026 thanks to a stunning performance that saw him break numerous records. Sooryavanshi won the Orange cap and was named MVP and Emerging Player after scoring 776 runs with a stunning strike rate of 237.31 and a tournament record 72 sixes. The return of Harshit, whose presence also bolsters the lower order with the bat, will help India. In the lead-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup, Harshit had secured his place in India's limited-overs lineup, but a knee injury before the tournament forced him to undergo surgery, which left him out for a long time. Rana was also a huge loss for KKR in the Indian Premier League, where they were unable to advance to the playoffs. Kuldeep Yadav, who was a member of the squad that won the World Cup in March, has been chosen over Ravi Bishnoi. Rinku Singh has been replaced by Sooryavanshi, whereas the majority of the players from that setup that won the title have kept their positions. Jasprit Bumrah will sit out the selection process, and Prince Yadav will take his place. Yadav has also been selected to play in the upcoming home ODIs against Afghanistan. While Hardik Pandya is making progress toward recovery and will play in the ODIs against Afghanistan, Nitish Kumar Reddy will take his place in the T20 squads. On June 26 and 28, India will first fly to Ireland to play two Twenty20 Internationals in Belfast. Following the completion of the series, they will travel to England to play five T20Is. Chester-le-Street will host the series opener on July 1, with Southampton hosting the series finale on July 11.