Mumbai | Winds of change swept across India's T20I set-up as Shreyas Iyer on Saturday took over the captaincy from Suryakumar Yadav, and wonder kid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi found a place in the squad for the twin tour of Ireland and England.
At 15 years and 71 days old, Sooryavanshi becomes the youngest ever player to feature in an Indian cricket team, surpassing the long-standing record held by the great Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days when he made his Test debut against Pakistan at Karachi on November 15, 1989.
India will travel to Ireland for two T20Is (June 26 and 28), followed by a five-match T20I series against England between July 1 and 11.
Shreyas has returned to the national T20 side for the first time after a match against Australia in Bengaluru on December 3, 2023.
"We have got a bit more time for the next WC, and his (Shreyas) performances as captain having won (the IPL) with KKR and a couple of good seasons with PBKS. He was very close to always being there in the team but could not find the spot," chief selector Ajit Agarkar told media after announcing the squads for various tours.
Shreyas' impressive leadership credentials in the IPL - leading KKR to title in 2024 and PBKS to final in 2025 - along with two seasons of consistent outings with the bat prompted the selectors to zero in on Shreyas to replace T20 World Cup 2026 winning captain Suryakumar.
Agarkar said Suryakumar's dipping form over the last two seasons dictated their decision to remove the Mumbaikar from the T20 captaincy.
"You look at the form in the last two years but he was doing well as a captain (of India). We did not deliberate a lot but at some stage we were going to look ahead," Agarkar added.
Sooryavanshi is a game-changer
Sooryavanshi's inclusion was a foregone conclusion after the 15-year-old bagged the Orange Cap in IPL 2026, scoring 776 runs with a hundred and five fifties at a strike rate of 237.30 for Rajasthan Royals.
Agarkar was impressed with the Bihar boy's game-changing abilities.
"We have seen what he can do. Even in the (IPL) playoffs we saw he almost single handedly carried his team.
"For a young kid to be batting in a high pressure environment, he can be a game changer. It's commendable," said the former India pacer.
Tilak is new vice-captain
Middle-order batter Tilak Varma will be Shreyas' deputy, while pacer Prince Yadav, who had an impressive season for Lucknow Super Giants, was drafted for the series against England and Ireland.
Agarkar said Tilak can learn more about the job of leading a side while being the deputy to Shreyas, a clear indication of his growth in the white ball format as a key member.
Bumrah to miss England, Ireland tour
Lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah will miss the T20I series against England and Ireland, but he will come back for the Asian Games, to be held in Aichi–Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.
"There is also a one-day WC (in 2027), so it was about how important he is keeping his fitness and we have nine Tests lined up.
"If we can have Jasprit play a majority of the games, it will be good. It is also about keeping him fit and available for the T20 assignments," Agarkar said on the management plans for Bumrah.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who is in India's ODI squad for the series against Afghanistan later this month, did not feature in any of the teams.
"The main objective is to see if Hardik can play ODI cricket and be fit as there is also an ODI World Cup ahead. It also gives (Nitish) Reddy a look in," said Agarkar.
Seasoned pacer Mohammed Siraj will tour England and Ireland but will miss the Asian Games as the Hyderabad man will be playing the home ODI rubber against the West Indies.
All-rounder Harshit Rana too has returned to the India set-up after missing the whole of the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders owing to an injury.
Wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel will lead India in the two multi-day matches against Sri Lanka.
Devdutt Padikkal will be the vice-captain, and Ruturaj Gaikwad too found a place in the squad.
India squad for Ireland and England T20 series: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vc), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
India squad for Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Vaibhav Sooryavnshi.
India squad for multi-day matches in Sri Lanka: Dhruv Jurel (c &wk), Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dube, Saransh Jain, Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi, Yash Thakur, N Jagadeesan, Aman Mokade, Sheikh Rashid and Ansari.
