It's pretty wild what's going on with Indian cricket lately. A bunch of players dream of leading India to victory at an ICC event and becoming captain. The thing is, there's this eerie pattern where the captain ends up stepping down or losing their spot after winning a trophy-it's happening all too often.

This bizarre streak has been ongoing since 2024 and carries on through 2026. It's the third consecutive instance. Talk about bad luck! Former cricket great Mohammad Kaif isn't holding back, either. He's firing off serious critiques toward both the selection panel and the BCCI, showing how mad he is about the whole mess.

Furious at the selectors' attitude, Mohammad Kaif said, "It's extremely unfortunate that a player who won a World Cup is being removed from the captaincy, or even from the team. No player deserves such treatment. But why is this happening? The selection committee has been making similar decisions for some time now. Removing Rohit Sharma from captaincy, even after winning the Champions Trophy, was completely incomprehensible. I still believe that was a very bad and wrong decision. And now the same thing is being done to Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar Yadav deserves much more respect."

Kaif defended Surya, further stating that he remains one of India's best T20 batsmen and has a strike rate better than many other players. Granted, he hasn't scored many runs in the last two or three months, but what do Indian fans really want? They want a shiny trophy, and Surya has made India champions. He deserved to be treated with respect.

If we look at history, this trend began with captain Rohit Sharma. In 2024, Rohit Sharma led India to the T20 World Cup victory. However, he was not the captain in the very next T20 match because he announced his retirement from the format. In 2025, Rohit Sharma led Team India to the ICC Champions Trophy title. However, immediately after this, the BCCI stripped him of the ODI captaincy and handed it to Shubman Gill. Rohit remains a part of the ODI team, but the captaincy is gone.

Now, something similar is happening with Suryakumar Yadav. Under his captaincy, Surya led India to the T20 World Cup 2026 at home. However, reports suggest that he will not be the captain in the next T20 match against Ireland. Moreover, his poor form has now eroded his place in the team. In IPL 2026, he managed just 270 runs in 13 innings, averaging just 20.76. India will begin the tour in Belfast, Ireland, where Shreyas Iyer could potentially lead the team.