In an unrelenting cricket calendar where monotony can set in over run-of-the-mill bilateral assignments, a multi-disciplinary event like the Asian Games holds the promise of a novel offering.

The competition provides a unique opportunity for India’s high-profile cricketers to mingle with athletes from other sports whilst attempting to win gold for the nation. Shreyas Iyer & Co. will be looking to do just that when they travel to Japan for the continental spectacle’s T20 tournament from September 24 to October 3.

This will be the Indian cricket team’s second appearance at the Asian Games, having pocketed gold in Hangzhou, China, in 2023.

Sunil Gavaskar hopes the Men in Blue savour the experience of a multi-sport carnival. “You get to know and talk to athletes from other sports, and get to know what makes them tick. It will be a wonderful experience,” he said during a virtual media interaction.

Though reports have emerged of the arrangements in Japan for the cricketers not being up to scratch, Gavaskar emphasised that such obstacles shouldn’t dissuade the game’s stakeholders from exploring newer markets.

“If cricket has to become a global sport, it has to be played in different parts of the world. At the Olympics, for example, you could play in a city where cricket isn’t generally played. You might not always get the best facilities,” the 77-year-old opined. “For the game to grow, I would encourage them to play wherever possible.”

If cricket is to pique the curiosity of spectators at the Asian Games, the boy wonder that is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will have to show up. The spunky 15-year-old, who cracked two half-centuries against Zimbabwe after a baptism by fire against England, will hope to continue his upward flight.

“Look in T20 cricket, you can’t expect consistency. Vaibhav is the kind of batter who can win you three or four out of 10 games. But he’s somebody with whom we need to have patience,” assessed Gavaskar.

(Watch cricket at Asian Games 2026 on Sony Sports and Sony LIV from September 17).

India captain Shreyas Iyer wants his players to play fearless cricket and not be weighed down by criticism after the team’s disappointing run in England, saying the recent setbacks have only brought the squad closer ahead of the three-match T20 series against Zimbabwe.

India arrive in Zimbabwe after enduring a winless white-ball tour of England and Ireland, but Iyer said the team has identified the areas it needs to improve on.

“We had a rough patch in England, but there were a lot of positives out of that. We got to know what we have to build as a team going forward, what kind of presence of mind, awareness and adaptability we need once we step onto the field,” Iyer said on the eve of the opening T20I here.

The series in England and Ireland was also Iyer’s first assignment as captain.

The skipper, who is touring Zimbabwe for the first time, said the biggest challenge would be adjusting to the conditions in a short span of time.

“Some of us are playing here for the first time, so the quicker we adapt, the better results we will get.” Iyer also urged the young members of the squad to play without the fear of failure despite recent scrutiny following India’s performances.

“I don’t think they should fear failure because when you have such thoughts at the back of your mind, then you play to save yourself. When you don’t have that fear, you can get the best out of yourself.

“We don’t have to think much about what people are saying outside. We have to stay in the present. The more we play good cricket and play together as a unit, the better it will be for the team.” The captain acknowledged the demanding schedule after India’s players travelled directly from England, with just one training session before the series opener.

“It is definitely very challenging. We came yesterday, today is practice and tomorrow is the match. But it is fun, and if you perform well in these situations, you will definitely be happy with yourself.” Iyer said India’s overseas assignments in Ireland, England and now Zimbabwe have provided valuable exposure.

“The results didn’t go our way, but that has brought the team closer to each other. We’ve been having a lot of discussions about how we’re going to play as a unit going forward.

“It’s a great exposure because you don’t get this often. This is a challenging phase, and the quicker you overcome it, the better you become as a team.” The 31-year-old also praised Zimbabwe, describing them as a competitive side with several players carrying IPL experience.

“They have an amazing team and a good lineup. A couple of them have also played in the IPL, so they carry immense experience.” Reflecting on his own comeback from injury, Iyer said the rehabilitation period had strengthened him mentally.

“It has made me more confident as an individual. When you overcome the injury phase, mentally it makes you very positive. Whatever challenges you face on the field, you know how quickly you can overcome them.

“There can be ups and downs, but the quicker you analyse and execute what you want to do, the better it is for the team,” he said.

15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s historic India debut did not go as per script. Iyer said Sooryavanshi and other youngsters in the team would be wiser with the experience in England and Ireland.

“All the youngsters, I think, they have definitely practiced. There was a decent gap after the T20 series.

“So he (Sooryavanshi) must have rectified where he went wrong. So personally, I don’t have to give much advice,” Iyer added.

Two images summed up India’s attitude towards Ireland. One, their captain Shreyas Iyer’s disdain at the end of the first loss by 34 runs. Swaying his hips casually when being interviewed at the presentation ceremony, he seemed more focused on the poor start to his captaincy career than on giving the opponents any credit. There was no mention of Ireland’s effort at all. No “They played well and deserved the win”, not even a simple “well done”.

By the second loss, someone seems to have spoken to him. This time there was acknowledgment that actually two teams had played the match (and only one had won). Sport is a great leveller, and if you disrespect either the game or your opponent, it has a way of letting you know.

Puerile

The second set of images were the promos on Indian television. This is a recent phenomenon where channels whip up frenzy by whipping the opponents in language and image that is incredibly puerile and downright embarrassing. Neither the game nor its players nor indeed the fans deserve to be treated with such contempt. Not funny, not clever, and in keeping with a particular brand of jingoism that suggests we are the greatest in everything we do (not just in sport), and need to beat our drum on every occasion. The best don’t need such accompaniment.

India’s attitude suggested the series would be a walk in the park, they were doing Ireland a favour by playing them, they could have fielded their third team and won. No one articulated any of this, of course, but the mindset was clear — condescending, dismissive, suggesting that merely to turn up was to win.

Obviously Ireland were more comfortable playing at home and knew exactly what to do. Their medium pacers bowled the right length, slightly short, to get batters to play square of the wicket where the boundaries were farther away. They outplayed India and deserved the win in the “greatest weekend in Irish cricket,” as someone put it.

Conditions were different, not impossible. India are the reigning world champions, and for champions every venue should be a home ground. Condescension is a cousin of unprofessionalism. Things don’t just happen in sport, they have to be made to happen. Ireland were more professional, better led and had a set of coaches more keenly attuned to the needs of the competition.

Question the support staff

The question India will be asking is not if Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should have played (he should have), but what the coaching staff was up to. India didn’t lose because of their television channels or their own attitude. They lost because the coaches took a while to figure out where to bowl and how to bat on a ground where the straight boundaries were shorter than the square ones. The batters were either in too much of a hurry, too keen to lay out their six-hitting wares or too unwilling to believe that any team could actually beat them.

Wickets in Ireland are not like those in the IPL which are consistently batter-friendly. Technique and temperament are constantly questioned. Perhaps India missed the range of batters like K.L. Rahul or Shubman Gill who are world class whatever the colour of the ball.

Ireland are ranked eleventh in the world, India are No. 1. Cricket is not Ireland’s main sport. In the Irish Times newspaper, it figures behind Gaelic Games, World Cup Football, rugby, golf, and racing. Their historic win appears under ‘More Sport’.

Where do India go from here? There is no need to panic as they arrive in England for the first of five T20s. Skipper Shreyas’ form as well as that of the openers is a worry. Still, the new captain needs to be given a decent run in the job. Redemption might be just round the corner.

National coach Gautam Gambhir has now presided over two home whitewashes in Test cricket, against New Zealand and South Africa, and now this. Perhaps it is time to split the coach’s job, and have different coaches for Test cricket and the white ball game. Coaching is a high pressure job and coaches need to be rested in the same way that fast bowlers are today.

If there is a competition to find Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s biggest fan, former England off-spinner Graeme Swann will certainly be in the mix.

During a 40-minute media interaction on Sunday, Swann could not stop waxing eloquent about the 15-year-old, even when questions pertaining to other topics were posed at him. Describing Sooryavanshi as a “once in a generation talent”, the 47-year-old felt that a “box-office batter” like him should not be kept away from the India T20I XI for long.

“If I were the Indian captain or coach, I would have Sooryavanshi in immediately. The sooner India plays him, the sooner he gets exposed to international cricket. There is no reason why he cannot be the best player in the world for the next 15 years. He is that good,” Swann said.

The southpaw has been made to wait for his international debut after being benched in the two-match series in Ireland.

“If you look at the XI, there is none who deserves to be dropped based on performances. But you could argue that Sooryavanshi outperformed them all in the IPL. Let us face it; his stats do not lie. So personally, I would build a batting line-up around him.

“The hype around him is real. He can hit the best bowlers all over the park and destroy them. He is not old enough to drive in this country (England) but is old enough to smash the best bowlers.

“He can be an absolute match-winner. When you look at the Indian T20I and ODI teams, they are full of world-class players. The fact that a kid who is more exciting has come along is astonishing,” Swann went on to add.

The Englishman also opined that new skipper Shreyas Iyer will match the high standards set by his predecessors Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.

(Watch India vs. England first T20I live on July 1 from 10 p.m. IST on Sony Sports Ten 1 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 5 SD & HD & Sony MAX).

India’s transition towards the next T20 World Cup cycle formally began on Saturday with Shreyas Iyer replacing Suryakumar Yadav as captain and teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi earning a maiden call-up, decisions chief selector Ajit Agarkar suggested were driven equally by long-term planning and recent performances.

Shreyas’ elevation marks a significant turnaround in fortunes for the Mumbai batter, who last featured in a T20I in December 2023 and had narrowly missed selection for the recent World Cup campaign despite an impressive run in franchise cricket.

“We have seen what he has done over the last few years, leading different franchises,” Agarkar said here on Saturday. “He won [the IPL title] once, had a tougher season this year after a great start. He has seen everything that a captain possibly can. His own performances have been really good.

“He was quite close to getting into that T20 World Cup squad as well, but [with] Surya still there, there was no room for him. He in my opinion was a stand-out candidate with enough experience now. This will obviously be a different challenge.”

The change simultaneously brings an abrupt end to Suryakumar’s captaincy stint, and possibly international career. Less than three months after leading India to a successful T20 World Cup defence, the 35-year-old not only lost the captaincy but also his place in the squad.

“With regards to Surya, obviously it’s a tough one having just won the World Cup,” Agarkar admitted. “But as it happens, after most World Cups, we try and reassess what the best way forward is.

“Partly his own form, but also looking at the next two-year cycle or a little bit more than two years now till the next World Cup. We thought this was the best way forward.”

The other headline, unsurprisingly, belonged to 15-year-old Sooryavanshi, whose explosive IPL performances accelerated his entry into international cricket.

“He just has picked himself really,” Agarkar said. “With his performances, he has almost forced us to pick him with how well he has played. It’s not just this season. He obviously had a great start [to his IPL career] last season.

“And to back it up for a young kid in a competition that’s as competitive and has a high-pressure environment, and how explosive he can be and a game-changer that he can be… we have got high hopes of him.”

For India’s selectors, Saturday’s announcement was less about one squad and more about officially beginning another cycle.

The selectors on Saturday (June 6, 2026) officially announced that Shreyas Iyer will be captain of the T20 international side.

Shreyas Iyer replaces Suryakumar Yadav, who has won the T20 World Cup, as the captain.

Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi makes history by being included in the squad for the two-match series in Ireland and England. His selection means that Sooryavanshi surpasses Sachin Tendulkar’s record as youngest player to represent India. 

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for England and Ireland tours to enable him to feature in the Asian Games 2026.

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said that Yashasvi Jaiswal has replaced injured Virat Kohli in the ODI squad against Afghanistan.

Shreyas Iyer is set to return to India’s T20I set-up and is also likely to be handed the captaincy in the shortest format when the senior national selection committee meets here on Saturday to pick the squads for three crucial assignments in the coming months.

The senior selection panel, chaired by Ajit Agarkar, is scheduled to finalise the contingents for the T20I series in Ireland, subsequent limited-overs tour of England and the Asian Games. Shreyas, who last played a T20I in December 2023, is expected to replace Suryakumar Yadav both in the squad and as captain. After enduring a prolonged lean patch with the bat, Suryakumar is set to lose his place despite having led India during its successful T20 World Cup title defence earlier this year.

The Hindu understands that both the selectors and team management have increasingly gravitated towards Shreyas as the leadership choice after multiple rounds of discussions.

Having captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title in 2024 before guiding Punjab Kings to the final in 2025, the 31-year-old’s leadership credentials have significantly strengthened his case. Other names discussed for the role included Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma.

Interestingly, Hardik Pandya — who had been replaced by Suryakumar as captain at the beginning of the previous T20 World Cup cycle — and vice-captain of the recent World Cup campaign, Axar Patel, have not featured prominently in discussions so far.

Beyond the captaincy debate, teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the major talking point. The key question is whether the selectors accelerate the 15-year-old’s entry into the T20I squad or introduce him gradually through a relatively easier assignment in Zimbabwe in July.

Sooryavanshi already features among the 30 probables for the Asian Games. India will play two T20Is in Ireland on June 26 and 28 before travelling to England for five T20Is and three ODIs between July 1 and 19. The Asian Games cricket competition, scheduled from September 17 to October 3, overlaps with India’s home ODI series against the West Indies.

The selectors are also expected to name a replacement for Virat Kohli, whose hamstring injury has ruled him out of the ODI series against Afghanistan. Fitness reports concerning Rohit Sharma and Hardik — both selected earlier subject to clearance — will also come up for discussion during Saturday’s meeting.

Nearly a decade after their memorable partnership helped Mumbai dominate domestic cricket, Aditya Tare and Shreyas Iyer briefly turned the clock back at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday (June 4, 2026).

Only this time, the context was different.

Back in 2015-16, it was Tare the Mumbai captain and Iyer the prodigious youngster smashing a record 1,321-run Ranji Trophy season that launched him towards international cricket. On Thursday (June 4, 2026), representing SoBo Mumbai Falcons, the duo helped Falcons register its first win of the T20 Mumbai season.

Tare later revealed that Iyer’s decision to play purely as an Impact Player had little to do with injury concerns and everything to do with workload management.

“He is alright. There are no injury concerns as such,” Tare said after the victory against defending champion MSC Maratha Royals. “He has come off a long IPL season, he is going to play the ODI series coming up, so we want him to be as fresh as possible and give his best with the bat rather than spending long periods on the field.”

Iyer, who arrived for T20 Mumbai after captaining Punjab Kings through what turned out to be an arduous IPL campaign, is expected to join India’s ODI squad for the series against the Afghanistan national cricket team shortly and is expected to be announced as India’s next T20I captain when squads for the Ireland and England tours are announced on Saturday (June 6, 2026).

For Tare, however, batting alongside Iyer remains a familiar comfort.

“You know how great Shreyas is. Over the last decade, he has become one of the legends of Indian cricket and still has many years left,” Tare said. “I’m fortunate he is part of this franchise because batting with him always makes things easier for the partner.”

They may not have batted together – with Shreyas consolidating after a quickfire start by Tare – but the camaraderie looked largely unchanged. “Playing at Wankhede itself is a privilege,” Tare said. “And batting alongside Shreyas always makes it special.”

For years, Aditya Tare and Shreyas Iyer were Mumbai’s batting mainstays across formats. On Thursday (June 4, 2026) evening at the Wankhede Stadium, the duo briefly turned the clock back.

Tare and Iyer rolled back the years to help SOBO Mumbai Falcons register its first win of the T20 Mumbai, surviving a late wobble to secure a three-wicket victory against defending champion MSC Maratha Royals.

With Shreyas used as an Impact Player for an afternoon game, captain Tare ensured Falcons made the perfect start in quest of a target of 153. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter blazed away to 42 (19b, 4×4, 3×6) while combining with Ishan Mulchandani (29, 24b, 1×4, 1×6) for a brisk 57-run opening partnership.

When Shreyas replaced Tare, he maintained the momentum seamlessly. The India batter, in contention for taking over as India’s T20I captain, struck a fluent 30 (24b, 2×4, 2×6) as Falcons raced to 106 within 12 overs, appearing to cruise towards victory.

Once Shreyas departed, the Siddhesh Lad-led Royals clawed back dramatically, picking four for 21 to convert a straightforward chase into a nervy finish. But Arjun Dani wilted under the pressure of bowling his first over the day as the last of the match and conceded a plethora of extras to make it easier for Falcons to cross the line.

Earlier, opener Sahil Jadhav fought a lone battle for Royals with a sparkling 52 (30b, 5×4, 3×6). Had it not been for a late charge by Dani (35, 30b, 1×4, 3×6), Royals would have struggled to cross 150.

While left-arm spinner Yash Dicholkar was the most successful bowler, accounting for Jadhav and Tushar Deshpande, 15-year-old offspinner Vedant Gore had an impressive spell, conceding just 15 runs in his four overs.

Brief Scores:

MSC Maratha Royals 152/9 in 20 overs (Sahil Jadhav 52, Arjun Dani 35, Akash Parkar 3/22, Yash Dicholkar 3/25) lost to SOBO Mumbai Falcons 156/6 in 19.1 overs (Aditya Tare 42, Shreyas Iyer 30, Ishan Mulchandani 29; Maxwell Swaminathan 2/24).

Aakash Tigers MWS 172/9 in 20 overs (Jay Bista 56, Saksham Parashar 30, Sourabh Singh 30, Onkar Tarmale 3/20) bt Eagle Thane Strikers 171 all out in 19.5 overs (Sairaj Patil 39, Siddhant Singh 37, Shashank Attarde 3/24, Shams Mulani 2/18, Kruthik Hanagavadi 2/38).

Shreyas Iyer picked the perfect evening to score his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) ton as he powered Punjab Kings to a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Lucknow Super Giants.

“He’s a tremendous leader of many. He reads the game well,” said PBKS assistant coach Brad Haddin after the game.

“There are two main things that I think I enjoy most about him. One is his care for his players, and the other is his appetite for the big moment. He’s seen that tonight. He wanted to be the one to make the difference, and that’s what you want from your leaders, whether it’s for the IPL or for your country,” added the 48-year-old.

Haddin emphasised that the team’s overall execution in high-pressure situations has been a major focus behind the scenes.

“I think as any coaching staff, you have to identify moments where you need to get better, and that’s what we’ve done. A lot of the games we lost went to the last over and a couple to the last ball where we were close, but we probably weren’t identifying those big moments,” he said.

While one captain delivered when it mattered, his counterpart, Rishabh Pant, had little to show for his efforts — either on Saturday (May 23, 2026) or across a grueling season.

LSG’s Global Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, felt his captaincy and batting are correlated. “From a captaincy point of view, he’s found it challenging, obviously, and the results reflect that. And you have to wonder whether that is a pressure that is reflected with his performance with the bat,” he said.

“And certainly when it comes to the leadership of the franchise, it’s something that we’ll be giving some very serious consideration to what it looks like in the future,” he added.