Suryakumar Yadav ignored as Faf du Plessis names best T20 WC 2026 captain

Former South African superstar Faf du Plessis has been part of the ICC T20 World Cup experts panel and has made many wild picks, but during a session when he picked the best captain of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, he made the most obvious choice.

The ICC T20 World Cup has not been what teams expected. India, the defending champions, are standing a step away from the verge of elimination or qualification ahead of the semis. New Zealand are depending on Pakistan to qualify for the semis, and Zimbabwe played their first-ever Super-8, defeating the mighty Aussies in the group stage.

Out of every unconventionality, what has remained constant is South Africa's team performance. They have not only been scoring runs at a constant rate, but have also been dominating oppositions, and have proved to be the most promising side and the most deserving among the contenders for that title.

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Faf du Plessis backs Sikandar Raza as one of the finest captains in this T20 World Cup

Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis has been an eminent part of the expert panel for the ICC T20 World Cup. He has been making several picks that have taken fans by surprise, and he was handed the job to pick out the best captain of all the skippers in the T20 World Cup 2026.

Faf made the start by picking Rashid Khan, the Afghan skipper, over the experienced Dutch skipper Scott Edwards and then stuck with Rashid over Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh and Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha, and only moved on when Sikandar Raza was dropped for the battle.

South Africa seemed impressed by Raza's captaincy stunts, and why not, since he led Zimbabwe to their first-ever Super-8 round. He picked Sikandar Raza over Rashid Khan, Shai Hope and Dasun Shanaka.

Not Suryakumar Yadav or Mitchell Santner, Faf du Plessis picks this player as the best Captain

Sikander Raza lost his position to the South African maestro Aiden Markram. Du Plessis was not unreasonable to pick Markram over England skipper Harry Brook, who has also led his team undefeated into the semis, after having lost the only match against the West Indies during the group-stage clash.

Markram has truly been fantastic in this edition, and that seemed evident through Faf du Plessis' dilemma, when he was asked to pick between Markram and the spectacular skipper for the Blackcaps, Mitchell Santner. Santner is known as one of the smartest captains in regulating the flow of an innings and the rotation of his bowlers.

Lastly, it was an easy pick for Faf du Plessis, who preferred Aiden Markram over Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav, whose captaincy has been rather under scrutiny in this T20 World Cup.

Faf du Plessis picks his best captain at the T20 World Cup 2026 pic.twitter.com/SRtr3hBOW8

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 27, 2026

South Africa are the only team to enter the semis undefeated

Until now, two teams have made it to the semis. It's England who top Group 2 and South Africa who top Group 1. Among them, England are undefeated in the Super-8 stage, but South Africa have been undefeated throughout the competition as of now.

South Africa have their final game scheduled against Zimbabwe before they walk into the semis and clash against the second team that qualifies from Group 2, which would be either Pakistan or New Zealand. Considering their form, even if they rest some of their players, South Africa can be expected to claim a victory over Zimbabwe as well.

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