The axing of the T20 World Cup-winning captain – and dropping him altogether from the side – is unprecedented in Indian cricket, but Agarkar said it was done “in the interest of what the team needs going forward.”
“Of course, it’s a tough decision.” [to leave out Suryakumar]. Someone who led you in the World Cup, it’s not the easiest thing to try and change. But like I said, we’ve not had any international cricket after that World Cup. Partly the form, but partly also how we go forward is always at the back of your mind. And moving ahead, with a new captain, in this case Shreyas was in our view the right call.”
Suryakumar’s 270 runs from 13 innings in the recent IPL was his lowest tally in the tournament since IPL 2017, when he had played seven innings for 105 runs for Kolkata Knight Riders. His average in IPL 2026 was 20.76, again his lowest since IPL 2017, and his strike rate of 147.54 this time was his worst since IPL 2022.
It was only at the start of 2026 that he turned his form around against New Zealand at home, when he smashed three half-centuries in five innings, registered just one single-digit score, and finished the series with an average of 80.66 and a strike rate of 196.74. He also started the T20 World Cup with a bang, scoring a match-turning, unbeaten 84 off 49 balls against USA. But he couldn’t cross 35 after that in eight innings while leading India to the title.
“I mean, you look at his performance in the last couple of years,” Agarkar said. “But he was a captain who was doing really well, winning so many games. He eventually ended up winning the World Cup. Obviously, we deliberated it a lot, especially when someone led you to a World Cup. It’s not the easiest sort of discussion to have, but… At some stage, we were going to look at it. Whether the IPL form dictated it, I’m not so sure that’s the case. There were always conversations around it. Like I said, because Shreyas playing as well as he is, particularly with the bat, sometimes makes the decision a little bit easier.”
Agarkar also explained that the next T20 World Cup being more than two years away gave the team management ample time to plan things, unlike the 19-month gap between the 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cups. Agarkar said he had a chat with Surykumar recently about his ax from the T20I side, but didn’t want to reveal the details.
“Yeah, I talk to most people when we are making such decisions, particularly when it comes to a captain, who has just won a World Cup,” Agarkar said. “So, that’s a chat between me and him.
“Like I said, it’s a conversation between Surya and me. And, look, we know he’s been captain and just won a World Cup. So it’s not the easiest conversation when you want to tell the player that. But we’re doing everything in the interest of what the team needs going forward.”
