Suryakumar Yadav: The Journey of India’s T20 World Cup-Winning Captain

If anything, India may have found another national icon. Suryakumar Yadav was one of the more underrated players to have led the star-studded India team. Whether the T20 World Cup triumph has elevated him to the stature of an MS Dhoni, a Rohit Sharma or a Kapil Dev will be known in time, but the success suggests that Indian cricket is capable of taking the right decisions.

After Rohit Sharma retired following the 2024 World Cup win, Suryakumar was nowhere in the reckoning for the leadership role. Hardik Pandya was the favourite, but the BCCI, in consultation with chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir, felt Suryakumar was the right choice. It was felt that Hardik would have too much on his plate – contributing with both bat and ball. As it turned out, Suryakumar walked into the history books as a World Cup-winning captain whose journey began some 16 years ago.

The December 2009 Discovery

One Sunday morning in December 2009 at Bombay Gymkhana, a young cricketer was playing shots rarely seen on Mumbai’s maidans – scoops, reverse scoops, sweeps, reverse sweeps and ramp shots. A Rajasthan Royals scout was struck by the youngster’s extensive array of strokes. He went on to score a century that morning.

The scout immediately contacted Khodadad Yazdegard of Parsee Gymkhana to arrange a trial in Jaipur. Both spoke to the cricketer’s father, a scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) living in Chembur, and by Tuesday morning Suryakumar was at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur taking part in the Royals’ trials.

He batted impressively in the friendly game, playing those audacious strokes – one of them a unique scoop/ramp into the stands off Kamran Khan, then a prodigy discovered by the Rajasthan Royals. He was eventually bowled, inside-edging one from Dimitri Mascarenhas onto his stumps. Shane Warne, who was in Jaipur scouting for quality talent after the Royals’ disastrous second season in the IPL, appeared impressed with the young batter. Suryakumar was barely 19 then.

The Mumbai Indians Journey

Suryakumar was eventually recruited by the Mumbai Indians, for whom he made his debut three years later, before being picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014. Four years later, he would return to become a Mumbai Indians legend.

A certain assistant coach in the Knight Riders set-up was believed to have insisted that the franchise buy Nitish Rana after the Delhi batter played a blinder – a 50 – against them while representing the Mumbai Indians in a 2017 match at the Wankhede. Given the purse dynamics, KKR could not have afforded both at the auction and eventually settled for Rana (INR 3.4 crore), while Suryakumar returned to the Mumbai Indians dressing room for INR 3.2 crore.

Since joining MI, he has displayed remarkable maturity. Mumbai cricket circles say he works tirelessly on both his batting and fitness. At the Parsee Gymkhana ground, he would practice for hours, playing strokes that were not only ingenious but also ahead of their time.

The Evolution of His Game

“Sweeping is the new driving. Earlier, we were taught about driving in the ‘V’. The game has evolved. T20 is a fickle game. You have to maximise your time at the crease; it is all about return on investment,” says Jatin Paranjpe, a former India cricketer, selector and member of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee.

“That is where I think Surya has been amazing – in understanding what the game demands, how he needs to change his own game, and what the overall needs of the team are. He has worked for hours and days practising the sweep, reverse sweep and ramp.” Paranjpe believes the batter was ahead of his time – a view shared by many in Mumbai’s cricketing circles.

“The range of shot-making was always evident, as were the timing and power. My recollection from that innings at Bombay Gymkhana century is of the huge sixes he hit straight down the ground and deep into Azad Maidan, along with his ability to sweep consistently,” recalls Zubin Bharucha, that Rajasthan Royals scout. Bharucha still regrets that the Royals could not recruit him. The story goes that Warne was not too impressed with his fitness and fielding at the time.

Transformation into a World Cup Winner

Years later, Suryakumar has transformed himself and is now among the fittest players in the India national cricket team. The diving catch he took last week at the Eden Gardens in that virtual knockout game against the West Indies would surely have made Warne happy. Rajasthan Royals’ loss has been Mumbai Indians’ gain, where Suryakumar has grown in stature and became a pan-India star, widely hailed for his leadership qualities.

He explained his captaincy mantra on the eve of the World Cup final against New Zealand. “It’s obviously a special feeling that I’m going to lead India in the final. I think the mantra has been very clear in this tournament – to stay in the present as much as possible. I think handling pressure is all about how calm you are in tight situations. So talking to each other I think helps a lot to be very calm, to be very composed and that’s how one takes a positive call.”

Leadership Philosophy

He also treats the teammates as friends, not like a big brother or father figure. “These guys don’t let me talk much in the dressing room – at all. These guys dictate their terms. So I have seen that when they get the freedom, they become a different character on the ground. I was noticing that when I started leading this team. After that I understood that nothing will happen by being a big brother or a father (figure). They have to be left alone. Nothing will happen by holding on to their ears. They have to be left free, only then can they give their best.”

Suryakumar bought into Gautam Gambhir’s philosophy of team first and that individual milestones do not matter. “I mean, nothing is more important for them than team goals. So, what is important for the team – if someone wants to score a six on his first ball, then he should. And if he wants to play some other game, then he should. So, that’s the theory in this team.” It is said of all the captains that have worked with Gambhir, he has had the best of equations with Suryakumar Yadav and it may not be a surprise if both intend to go on till the Olympics in 2028.

Journey Through Adversity

Suryakumar’s leadership had come under scrutiny during the 2024-25 season and reports suggest that some Mumbai players were not apparently happy with his captaincy. “Good things happen to good people at the right time,” Khodadad told Cricbuzz, repeating the very words that Suryakumar used recently to describe Sanju Samson’s resurrection as a match-winner.

“I had told him this long back. A few of us seniors in the team always felt that if you’re not enjoying it, it’s better you don’t do it. Yes, there were frustrations on the journey because every time he scored, he still didn’t get picked. He would score and still not get picked. I was someone he used to share his cricketing thoughts with. All I kept telling him was, ‘Surya, keep hitting hard. One day you’ll break the door. If the door doesn’t open, you’ll break it.’ And that’s exactly what happened a few years later.”

The Asia Cup Test and Ahmedabad Triumph

Suryakumar’s big test came during the Asia Cup last year when there were several off-field controversies, and he became the face of the Indian team’s no-handshake policy against Pakistan. It was a challenging time for the relatively inexperienced skipper, but he carried himself with composure – much like he did during the just-concluded T20 World Cup.

There has been some debate about how he handles the media during pre- and post-match press conferences, but he walked out of Ahmedabad – the very venue where he had made his debut during a closed-door match under Covid restrictions against England in March 2021 – as a hero. The only difference was that this time nearly 90,000 voices were not silenced; they were let loose by a captain who had sent the crowd into a frenzy that could last for days, nights and weeks to come.

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