Sanju Samson tipped to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India’s T20I captain after World Cup glory: ‘He took RR to IPL final’

Sanju Samson could be a strong candidate to replace Suryakumar Yadav as India's next T20I captain after World Cup triumph, says a former India cricketer.

Expect Sanju Samson’s stocks to soar in the coming days. The India opener, whose hat-trick of half-centuries played a big role in winning the T20 World Cup, is now being talked about as the country’s next T20I captain, taking over from Suryakumar Yadav in due time. Suryakumar, on Sunday, became India’s fourth World Cup-winning captain, joining Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur; however, at 35, the chances of Surya continuing as captain for much longer are slim. He may have declared his next goal – winning the Olympic gold medal for India – but 2028 is two years away, by which time Surya would turn 37. With the next T20 World Cup also lined up the same year in Australia, the prospects of Surya captaining India are unlikely.

Sanju Samson could take over India's T20I captaincy from Suryakumar Yadav when the time is right (AFP)

Which brings us to the question: Who should captain India two years from now? Make no mistake: as part of the succession plan, the switch in captaincy is expected to happen sometime. Until last year, Shubman Gill was the obvious choice, but his wretched run of form in T20Is has forced the BCCI and its selection committee to look the other way. With Samson enjoying a golden run with the bat, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif strongly believes the 31-year-old could eventually take over from Suryakumar Yadav.

“Tough to say right now as to who would become the next captain, but Samson could well be the one. I mean, why not? A Captain must be someone who has seen the world. Implementing bowling changes, playing the perfect XI, and backing players out of form, as with Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakaravarthy. A captain would know that these things happen. They themselves have gone through this. They understand these little things,” Kaif told Ravish Bisht in a video.

“So, I feel, Samson sure can be a candidate. However, if Surya keeps playing well they he can hold on to the position longer. If you’re fit, you can play till 38-39. There’s no problem. And in the shorter format, you need more experience. Someone who has captained remains forever valuable. If Surya decides to step down, Sanju can fill that position. He has captained a lot in the IPL and took the Rajasthan Royals to the final (2022). He is only 31. Might be the next Indian captain.”

The advantage for Sanju Samson

As valid a point as Kaif makes, here’s the kicker. The BCCI typically follows a pattern. Much like how Rohit was replaced by Gill in ODIs after India’s ICC Champions Trophy triumph, the selectors could adopt a similar approach in T20Is. Suryakumar Yadav, for all we know, could still remain part of India’s plans for the next ICC Men's T20 World Cup and even the LA 2028 Summer Olympics – but as a player. Ajit Agarkar’s selection committee has already moved on from Hardik Pandya as captain, and although Gill might still be in contention, Samson could fit the bill perfectly. Unless things go haywire, Samson, having scored 299 runs from five matches – an effort that won him the Player of the Tournament – is unlikely to be dropped in the foreseeable future, and what better time than now to groom him for the two major events in 2028? In less than 20 days, Samson will turn up for a new franchise – Chennai Super Kings – and by the time the IPL 2026 concludes, he could well be knocking on the captaincy door louder than ever.

The challenge for Suryakumar Yadav

The biggest challenge for Suryakumar Yadav going forward in his career is to keep scoring runs. It is what earned him an India debut at the age of 30 in 2021 and made him the world’s most prolific T20I batter throughout 2022. However, Surya has struggled with form lately. He went through the whole of 2025 without scoring a single fifty, raising the question of whether he would have retained his place in the side had he not been the captain.

Surya finally returned to form just before the T20 World Cup, scoring three half-centuries in four matches against New Zealand and launching India’s campaign with a blistering 82 against the USA. But momentum faded again, with Surya failing to score more than 34 against the Netherlands, his highest score of the tournament. In the final, Surya was out for a duck, though he would hardly mind as India got the result they wanted. Still, it does little to mask the bigger picture. As long as Suryakumar Yadav keeps scoring runs, his place in the team is safe, but that does not necessarily guarantee the captaincy.