Not Shreyas Iyer or Ishan Kishan, Sanjay Manjrekar suggests two names for Team India's T20I captaincy

India are set to name a new T20I captain soon, as reports suggest that Suryakumar Yadav has been stripped of the role following a prolonged lean patch with the bat. According to Sanjay Manjrekar, the right candidates for captaincy are not in contention at the moment.

As per reports, Shreyas Iyer is the frontrunner to lead India in the shortest format. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma are two other players who are being considered for the role. However, Manjrekar opined that either Shubman Gill or Jasprit Bumrah should be given captaincy, keeping in mind the next T20 World Cup in 2028.

Manjrekar believes that Bumrah is being overlooked because of his fitness concerns and workload management. Because the next edition of the T20 World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand, the former India batter opined that Shubman needs to be in the mix.

"It does not make sense to Suryakumar Yadav, because, you are talking about the T20 World Cup, quite the distance away now. Jasprit Bumrah is my first choice. Let's not dwell too much about his fitness and injuries, because this is the T20 format, where he is actually able to commit himself more. So, I believe in T20Is, he will be happy to captain, plus Mumbai Indians might be looking at him as the future leader," Sanjay Manjrekar said on his social media handle.

"The other person who has put himself in contention now is Shubman Gill. We have to remember one thing, the next T20 World Cup is not going to be in India, and a lot of T20 international matches are going to be played outside India. That is where people like Shubman Gill, with certain batting fundamentals, becomes a really important player in T20Is. In this IPL, he has actually leapfrogged over a lot of other people about the way he went about getting his runs, plus his leadership," he added.

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Bumrah led India in the shortest format in 2023 during a tour of Ireland, when he was returning from a long injury layoff. He also captained the Mumbai Indians for the first time this season when Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav were unavailable. Meanwhile, Shubman was India's T20I vice-captain when the Men in Blue won the Asia Cup last year. He has led the Gujarat Titans in the last three seasons, taking them to the playoffs in 2025 and 2026. The Punjab batter is also India's captain in Tests and ODIs.