How did Suryakumar Yadav become India’s T20 captain? He revealed it himself.
After India won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, Rohit Sharma retired from the format. Hardik Pandya was seen as the frontrunner for captaincy, given his strong leadership record in 2022–23.
However, in a surprising move, selectors appointed Suryakumar Yadav as captain. He later revealed in an interview with Press Trust of India that Jay Shah informed him about the decision just 3–4 days before the Sri Lanka tour.
He clarified that it wasn’t a one-person decision. It was a joint call involving Rohit Sharma, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, and head coach Rahul Dravid. Gautam Gambhir joined the setup later and had no direct role in the captaincy decision.
The decision impacted Hardik Pandya the most, as he lost not only the captaincy race but also the vice-captaincy, which later went to Shubman Gill and then Axar Patel.
However, the move proved highly successful. Under Suryakumar Yadav, India dominated T20 cricket—winning multiple bilateral series and even clinching the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 by defeating New Zealand national cricket team in the final, becoming the first team to win back-to-back T20 World Cups.
So far, under his captaincy, India has played 52 T20 matches, winning 42, losing 8, with 2 no results—showing that Team India has truly soared under his leadership.
