Exclusive | Shreyas Iyer In Line For Captaincy As BCCI Prepares 2-Team Structure For T20Is

[rollingstoned]

Exclusive | Shreyas Iyer In Line For Captaincy As BCCI Prepares 2-Team Structure For T20Is

BCCI plans to build a 30 to 35 player T20 pool from IPL 2026 to field two competitive teams amid overlapping international fixtures this year.

• Written by Rica Roy, Edited by NDTV Sports Desk
• Updated: April 21, 2026 02:18 am IST

 

 

Shreyas Iyer set to be rewarded by BCCI for IPL consistency©

 

 

Indian cricket's talent pipeline has given the selectors an opportunity to think big. With the IPL continuing to churn out match-ready performers, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is planning on building a 30-35 player pool capable of fielding two competitive T20 sides simultaneously. Plans beyond a single core squad have to be framed immediately as India faces overlapping international commitments later this year, with the Asian Games clashing with a T20 series against the West Indies.

 

 

A BCCI official told NDTV, "The Asian Games and India vs West Indies T20 Series are going to be at the same time. So we have to look at two T20 teams playing. It is important from now to have a pool of 30-35 cricketers who can be called up for International assignments. For the upcoming Ireland tour, like most tours to UK, a bigger pool of players will be kept in the squad. This will extend for the Asian Games."

 

The Board is actively planning for parallel assignments this year and in the future as well since cricket is now a part of multi discipline sporting fixtures as well, including the Olympic Games in 2028. The emphasis is on depth, flexibility, and readiness. These are the qualities increasingly demanded in a packed global calendar.

 

The upcoming Ireland tour is expected to serve as a testing ground. Tours like these have traditionally been used to blood fringe players. This tour could now feature an expanded squad, mirroring the long-term vision of a larger talent pool extending through the Asian Games. India are also set to play Afghanistan in a 3-match T20I series in September, though the schedule for the tournament is yet to be finalised.

 

The names under consideration reflect the IPL's growing influence. In the batting department, talents like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Priyansh Arya and Angkrish Raghuvanshi have caught the selectors' attention with their fearless strokeplay. The likes of Rajat Patidar and Ayush Badoni are also on the selectors' radar.

 

 

The all-rounder slot, often the backbone of T20 balance, could see opportunities for players like Shashank Singh, and Anukul Roy, the cricketers who bring versatility and adaptability.

On the bowling front, there is a mix of youth and experience. Ravi Bishnoi continues to be a standout in white-ball cricket, while Khaleel Ahmed (depending on availability), Prasidh Krishna, Ashok Sharma, and Kartik Tyagi offer them with pace options.

 

The all-rounder slot, often the backbone of T20 balance, could see opportunities for players like Shashank Singh, and Anukul Roy, the cricketers who bring versatility and adaptability.

On the bowling front, there is a mix of youth and experience. Ravi Bishnoi continues to be a standout in white-ball cricket, while Khaleel Ahmed (depending on availability), Prasidh Krishna, Ashok Sharma, and Kartik Tyagi offer them with pace options.

 

It is a message to all youngsters this IPL season that BCCI is not just looking for the best 15, but the best 35.

 

Great so BCCI is serious about 2 T20 teams. 

[bowl_out]

Great. 

 

Wonder if there should be separate red-ball and white-ball teams as well.

[Ultimate_Game]

Bhagwaan kare aisa hi ho and Iyer replaces SKY as captain 

 

And maybe BCCI needs to take a look at ODI team as well. Gill is not the answer as captain or a clutch player. I say let Iyer take over the captaincy in both formats and BCCI takes lessons from our T20 team and induct fresh blood there too. If we go with Rohit, Kohli, Gill, KL, Jadeja, Siraj, I cna tell you another loss in a knockout (if we even manage to get there) will happen. Get in youngsters and clutch players instead of oldies (Rohit, Kohli, Jadeja) and phattus (Gill, KL, Siraj, Jadeja).

[Gollum]

Send the better team to Asian Games, BCCI owes this country 2 easy gold medals. Who cares about WI T20I series? I would rather see India give a scare to South Korea, last time they were 3rd with 42 gold medals and 190 overall (poor conversion), India 28 gold and 106 overall. Gap will be lesser this time I am confident we will have our best ever haul, we need to work towards getting to #3 spot in Asia and it is a good 15-20 years project. This year, all eyes on Aichi-Nagoya, we have to bounce back after the Paris disaster....we can't mess up in cricket, hockey, kabbadi, compound archery etc. where we are easily the best in Asia. 

 

Team sports mein medal karne ka maza bhi alag hai...kabaddi, hockey, cricket. 

Edited April 22 by Gollum

[BacktoCricaddict]

Bledy BCCI copying ICF. @vvvslaxman

 

Honestly, this article sounds like an AI summary of ICF posts.

Edited April 22 by BacktoCricaddict

[vvvslaxman]

Just now, BacktoCricaddict said:

Bledy BCCI copying ICF. @vvvslaxman

Yea.. High time !!

[Ultimate_Game]

4 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Bledy BCCI copying ICF. @vvvslaxman

 

Honestly, this article sounds like an AI summary of ICF posts.

 

4 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

Yea.. High time !!

 

Agar hamari pehle sun li hoti toh 10 saal ICC cup ka wait nahin karna padta. We had to wait for 11 years for an ICC trophy thanks to BCCI going with the so called stars. Had they listened to us and kicked out freeloaders we wouldn't have had to go through the "lost decade". And we wasted Bumrah and Shami's prime years.

 

Wish better sense prevails and we go with the same approach in the ODI WC as well coz if they take the same old, jaded, feeble team, we end Bumrah's career without an ODI WC trophy 

[goose]

so basically the 3-4 indians from every ipl team 

[The Realist]

11 hours ago, goose said:

so basically the 3-4 indians from every ipl team 

 

Exactly, hardly world class scouting & selecting.

 

Talents like Project Patidar, Fake Dhoni, Trundler Ahmed & Economy Krishna 

 

@vvvslaxman @maniac

 

Justice for Jaydev Unadkat, Sandeep Sharma, Harshal Patel, Yuv Chahal & Manish Pandey?

 

[vvvslaxman]

54 minutes ago, The Realist said:

 

Exactly, hardly world class scouting & selecting.

 

Talents like Project Patidar, Fake Dhoni, Trundler Ahmed & Economy Krishna 

 

@vvvslaxman @maniac

 

Justice for Jaydev Unadkat, Sandeep Sharma, Harshal Patel, Yuv Chahal & Manish Pandey?

 

 

That will be Lazy Bum Lavdes XI

[deathmonger]

Good.

 

This can be later used to have international series in parallel thus freeing up a greater chunk of the calendar for IPL.

[G_B_]

Excellent move.

 

Repeat for test n odi.

[putrevus]

Iyer has shown leadership  in last three seasons. I don't see that in Gill. It would be good to make Iyer whiteball captain.He is already part of  odi team.

[Adamant]

On 4/22/2026 at 11:46 PM, Ultimate_Game said:

Bhagwaan kare aisa hi ho and Iyer replaces SKY as captain 

 

And maybe BCCI needs to take a look at ODI team as well. Gill is not the answer as captain or a clutch player. I say let Iyer take over the captaincy in both formats and BCCI takes lessons from our T20 team and induct fresh blood there too. If we go with Rohit, Kohli, Gill, KL, Jadeja, Siraj, I cna tell you another loss in a knockout (if we even manage to get there) will happen. Get in youngsters and clutch players instead of oldies (Rohit, Kohli, Jadeja) and phattus (Gill, KL, Siraj, Jadeja).

Wc 23

Semifinal and final - highest scores by Kohli

WT20 24 - SF and Final- highest score by Rohit and Kohli

 

Ct 25 - Sf and F- highest scores by Kohli and Rohit.

 

The young generation needs to finally step the * up, we have already seen they are talentless hacks in test Cricket, even in Odis they are totally dependent on the two seniors who have literally carried them in both the group stages and the knockouts.

 

T20 is the only format they are good, hacking and slashing will only get you there.

[Ultimate_Game]

1 hour ago, Adamant said:

Wc 23

Semifinal and final - highest scores by Kohli

WT20 24 - SF and Final- highest score by Rohit and Kohli

 

Ct 25 - Sf and F- highest scores by Kohli and Rohit.

 

The young generation needs to finally step the * up, we have already seen they are talentless hacks in test Cricket, even in Odis they are totally dependent on the two seniors who have literally carried them in both the group stages and the knockouts.

 

T20 is the only format they are good, hacking and slashing will only get you there.

 

WC23 - We all know how impactless Kohli's runs were. SF was Iyer who was the one responsible for taking a 330 total to 390+. Kohli's was the slowest innings in the SF. In the final we all saw how scared he and KL batted after Rohit had given a pretty good start of 80 runs off 10 overs.

 

CT25 - Iyer was the cornerstone along with Rohit's epic knock in the final.

 

2024 WT20 - We all know the shyte innings Kohli played with a 48 ball 50 resulting in a below-par score. It was Axar and Dube who managed to take the score to 170+ else we were again destined for a 150-160 total. It was Bumrah who pulled a miracle along with Pandya and Arshdeep defending 30 off 30 with 6 wkts in hand. That innings was a match losing innings from Kohli like most of his innings in a final. We've seen what a difference youngsters have made in T20 where they steamrolled everyone in knockouts.

 

T20 is the only format youngsters good at coz that's the only format they've been allowed to play as oldies have kept on sticking around. As for Tests we all know the eggs Kohli and Rohit laid at home against NZ and in BGT where youngsters and Bumrah actually carried the two seniors. Plus we all saw how the youngsters performed in 2020-21 BGT when Kohli ran away with India 0-1. The youngsters won that series in Aus. And recently the youngish Test team drew 2-2 in Eng with no Kohli and Rohit. Our Test dominance was built on Ashwin, Jadeja and the lower order, not Kohli and Rohit. Kohli actually was the worst performing no. 4 in world cricket between 2020 and 2025 averaging 30. Bowlers and lower middle order carried him and the team for a long time.

 

In nutshell, whenever youngsters were given a chance they performed. They can't do so unless the oldies move from ODIs as you can't expect them to score from the bench. Move the oldies and India wouldn't do any worse. After all we all saw the eggs laid by Kohli in ODI WC knockouts in 2015, 2019 and 2023. Oldies had their chance and they couldn't win anything despite Bumrah and Shami's outstanding performances. It's time youngsters get their chance after they've consistently shown they can handle intl cricket - that's the best chance Bumrah has of winning the ODI WC else the oldies will ensure he ends his career without a ODI WC trophy.

[KV244]

48 minutes ago, Ultimate_Game said:

 

WC23 - We all know how impactless Kohli's runs were. SF was Iyer who was the one responsible for taking a 330 total to 390+. Kohli's was the slowest innings in the SF. In the final we all saw how scared he and KL batted after Rohit had given a pretty good start of 80 runs off 10 overs.

 

CT25 - Iyer was the cornerstone along with Rohit's epic knock in the final.

 

2024 WT20 - We all know the shyte innings Kohli played with a 48 ball 50 resulting in a below-par score. It was Axar and Dube who managed to take the score to 170+ else we were again destined for a 150-160 total. It was Bumrah who pulled a miracle along with Pandya and Arshdeep defending 30 off 30 with 6 wkts in hand. That innings was a match losing innings from Kohli like most of his innings in a final. We've seen what a difference youngsters have made in T20 where they steamrolled everyone in knockouts.

 

T20 is the only format youngsters good at coz that's the only format they've been allowed to play as oldies have kept on sticking around. As for Tests we all know the eggs Kohli and Rohit laid at home against NZ and in BGT where youngsters and Bumrah actually carried the two seniors. Plus we all saw how the youngsters performed in 2020-21 BGT when Kohli ran away with India 0-1. The youngsters won that series in Aus. And recently the youngish Test team drew 2-2 in Eng with no Kohli and Rohit. Our Test dominance was built on Ashwin, Jadeja and the lower order, not Kohli and Rohit. Kohli actually was the worst performing no. 4 in world cricket between 2020 and 2025 averaging 30. Bowlers and lower middle order carried him and the team for a long time.

 

In nutshell, whenever youngsters were given a chance they performed. They can't do so unless the oldies move from ODIs as you can't expect them to score from the bench. Move the oldies and India wouldn't do any worse. After all we all saw the eggs laid by Kohli in ODI WC knockouts in 2015, 2019 and 2023. Oldies had their chance and they couldn't win anything despite Bumrah and Shami's outstanding performances. It's time youngsters get their chance after they've consistently shown they can handle intl cricket - that's the best chance Bumrah has of winning the ODI WC else the oldies will ensure he ends his career without a ODI WC trophy.

Why our youngsters can't able to win test series against SA in 2025.

[cowboysfan]

Everybody knows SKY is done,lets see how long they are going to drag his corpse to various countries.

[Adamant]

5 hours ago, Ultimate_Game said:

 

WC23 - We all know how impactless Kohli's runs were. SF was Iyer who was the one responsible for taking a 330 total to 390+. Kohli's was the slowest innings in the SF. In the final we all saw how scared he and KL batted after Rohit had given a pretty good start of 80 runs off 10 overs.

 

CT25 - Iyer was the cornerstone along with Rohit's epic knock in the final.

 

2024 WT20 - We all know the shyte innings Kohli played with a 48 ball 50 resulting in a below-par score. It was Axar and Dube who managed to take the score to 170+ else we were again destined for a 150-160 total. It was Bumrah who pulled a miracle along with Pandya and Arshdeep defending 30 off 30 with 6 wkts in hand. That innings was a match losing innings from Kohli like most of his innings in a final. We've seen what a difference youngsters have made in T20 where they steamrolled everyone in knockouts.

 

T20 is the only format youngsters good at coz that's the only format they've been allowed to play as oldies have kept on sticking around. As for Tests we all know the eggs Kohli and Rohit laid at home against NZ and in BGT where youngsters and Bumrah actually carried the two seniors. Plus we all saw how the youngsters performed in 2020-21 BGT when Kohli ran away with India 0-1. The youngsters won that series in Aus. And recently the youngish Test team drew 2-2 in Eng with no Kohli and Rohit. Our Test dominance was built on Ashwin, Jadeja and the lower order, not Kohli and Rohit. Kohli actually was the worst performing no. 4 in world cricket between 2020 and 2025 averaging 30. Bowlers and lower middle order carried him and the team for a long time.

 

In nutshell, whenever youngsters were given a chance they performed. They can't do so unless the oldies move from ODIs as you can't expect them to score from the bench. Move the oldies and India wouldn't do any worse. After all we all saw the eggs laid by Kohli in ODI WC knockouts in 2015, 2019 and 2023. Oldies had their chance and they couldn't win anything despite Bumrah and Shami's outstanding performances. It's time youngsters get their chance after they've consistently shown they can handle intl cricket - that's the best chance Bumrah has of winning the ODI WC else the oldies will ensure he ends his career without a ODI WC trophy.

Stop lying.

It was Kohlis knock in 25 CT semis that won the semi for us, he got a MOTM too.

 

Similarly in 23 Semis Kohli was yhe highest scorer and that role of being the accumulator was given to him, your do take ke players would have shat the bed under  if he got out cheaply.

 

Your de kaudi ke players shat the bed in t20 wc finals too, his innings helped us reach the highest scorer in t20 wc finals and he won the MOTM too.

 

Similarly Rohit was the best batter of the final in 25 CT.

 

My answers are based on facts and stats, yours are based on delusion of living in a fantasy land.

 

Go produce the numbers and MOTMs before barking.

 

Its simple, if the youngsters are so good why were the seniors the highest run scorers in both the group stages and the knockouts.

 

No one gives a * about your hate filled rant that has no statistical or factual evidence.

 

Let the youngsters become MOTM in finals and semis of odi tournaments and then we will talk.

[Adamant]

4 hours ago, KV244 said:

Why our youngsters can't able to win test series against SA in 2025.

He is one of the worst posters in terms of recognising talent, he was one of those who declared sky a national treasure.

 

Wanted Hooda in the team ahead of Kohli. 
 

He will continue ranting his hatred towards the performing seniors instead of arguing based on stats and facts.

 

[Stan AF]

Stupid idea.

 

Don't have enough good bowlers for this kind of misadventure.