Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra reckons Tilak Varma could be appointed as IPL captain ahead of 2027 season. Chopra’s remarks came after Varma was anointed as India’s vice-captain in T20Is whereas Shreyas Iyer was appointed as T20I captain, replacing Suryakumar Yadav at the helm.

Earlier it was reported that Varma was one of the contenders to take over the captaincy baton from Suryakumar Yadav. Varma currently doesn’t have a lot of leadership experience in his resume but the selectors are definitely looking to groom him for the future.

Varma scored 359 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 29.92 and a strike rate of 145.93.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “Tilak Varma is the new vice-captain. A lot of people were making fun earlier, saying things like, ‘Is Tilak Varma even a player? How will he become an IPL captain?’ But he is the vice-captain of India at the moment, and don’t be surprised if he is appointed captain of an IPL team before next season itself. Otherwise, it will definitely happen the year after. There is a good possibility.”

On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a stellar run in IPL 2026. The veteran seamer scalped 28 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 17.89 and an economy rate of 7.95. However, Kumar was ignored by the selectors and Chopra reckons the experienced pacer is not in selectors’ scheme of things

Chopra concluded, “Bhuvneshwar’s name didn’t come up, man. We forgot about him. We were talking about him because of his wickets, two good consecutive seasons, almost the Purple Cap this year. But Bhuvneshwar’s name didn’t come up, which means he is not going to be considered.”

Kumar last played for India in T20Is back in November 2022.