Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has hit out at selectors over their decision to remove Suryakumar Yadav from India's T20I leadership role so soon after he guided the team to a T20 World Cup victory. According to Ashwin, Suryakumar deserved a longer run in the side and more opportunities to find his form before being replaced. India have now handed the captaincy responsibilities to Shreyas Iyer. Iyer has maintained a great record as a leader, having led Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title in 2024 and followed it up by guiding Punjab Kings to the final in 2025.

"Look, I think it's a very interesting precedent, if I can say that. I just want to put myself in Suryakumar Yadav's shoes and for an instance think how he would be feeling at this point of time. I'm sure every player has got the right to be gutted about being left out of the side and that's fair if he's feeling bad about it, but just the whole occasion, the way it's been done, I am a little apprehensive about the whole thing," Ashwin said on ESPNcricinfo. 

Suryakumar's tenure following India's World Cup success was far from ideal with the bat. During the tournament, he managed 242 runs. Even he struggled in the subsequent IPL season, where he scored 270 runs.

"Because in my head I'm thinking, okay, I'm the T20 World Cup-winning captain. I'm just putting myself in Surya's shoes and thinking about it. Sure, my batting form has let me down over the last 18 months or 15 months or whatever it is. I haven't been in the prime form that I could have been. But then I managed to win a T20 World Cup for the country. Didn't have the greatest World Cup as a batter, but surely, just like everyone else in the team-the coach, the vice-captain, the best-performing batter, best-performing bowler-he's also been the best-performing skipper, right? He's played his part."

Ashwin agreed with the selectors' long-term vision but felt that Suryakumar had done enough to deserve a chance to retain his spot.

"I saw Ajit's press conference and I like what he said: for the next two years is what we are planning, which is quite a good way of looking at it. But is there a possibility that they could have given Surya a bit more time? And if you feel he's not a walk into your XI, could he have been given that big England series to ask himself to prove once again as a batter that he belongs in that place? I just think he deserved that after having accomplished such a huge feat in his career."

"Has there been an instance where a captain who's won the T20 World Cup has been left out without any ultimatum? I'm sure there's been communication. I have no doubts with regards to that. But this is quite a landmark day in selection if you ask me, because this will be taken as some sort of precedent the next time such a thing ever comes up. And let's not forget, T20 is a high-risk game where the batters are expected to put their wicket on the line for scoring those extra boundaries. You want them to play a brand of cricket which is high risk and hence my question is: could the captain of the defending champions have been dealt a slightly better deal than what he was dealt?" he said.