Will Sanju Samson Replace Suryakumar Yadav As India's New T20I Captain? EX-India Player Says 'He Might Be...'

Sanju Samson had a memorable outing in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 as he helped the team lift the title with a dominating 96-run win against New Zealand in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. India created history as they became the first team to win the T20 World Cup three times, also defending their title with an unprecedented effort to win it on home soil.

Suryakumar, on Sunday, became India’s fourth World Cup-winning captain, joining Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur. Interestingly, at the age of 35, the chances of Suryakumar continuing as captain for much longer are slim. He may have declared his next goal of 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.

While the whole nation, as well as the players, are busy celebrating the historic achievement, the former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif strongly believes that the in-form Samson could eventually take over from Suryakumar Yadav. Samson was the top run-getter in the T20 World Cup 2026, having scored 321 runs in 5 matches at an average of 80.25. After missing a few early games, Samson found form in style and played fiery knocks of 97, 89 and 89 in the last three matches, including the final against the Blackcaps.

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"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.

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"So, I feel, Samson sure can be a candidate. However, if Surya keeps playing well, 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."

Notably, Samson headed into the tournament with a disappointing run of form. He had lost his opening spot to Ishan Kishan after a horrible performance in the home series against New Zealand. With Abhishek Sharma's lack of runs, Samson returned to the side, and Ishan Kishan was shifted to the no.3 position.

Talking about Suryakumar, the biggest challenge for him 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. Meanwhile, Samson has a promising amount of captaincy experience, having led the Rajasthan Royals for several years. He took them to the IPL final in 2022. 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.