Suryakumar Yadav's Captaincy Journey: A World Cup Triumph and Unexpected Departure

Suryakumar’s year as India captain ended with a World Cup trophy in his hands and not a single series defeat on his record. It also ended with his name missing from the next squad list.

In 2025, the batter who once redefined T20 batting endured a lean run with the bat in Indian colours. No half-century all year. One standout innings at the T20 World Cup, a composed knock against USA at his beloved Wankhede Stadium, and little else of note. Yet as captain, he barely put a step wrong. India won the T20 World Cup at home, swept series, and looked settled under his leadership.

Then came the call.

A captain dropped, a smile instead of a storm

Suryakumar described his reaction in a conversation with former India batter Aakash Chopra. It was not anger. Not disbelief. A smile.

“I smiled when my name was not there,” he said, explaining that he tried to view the decision from the selectors’ perspective, to understand why they wanted to move on and build a side for the future. Pressure, setbacks, things not going his way – he said he had always met those moments with a smile and a sense of gratitude for the opportunities he had already enjoyed.

Still, the timing hit him hard. He had imagined a very different 2026.

After leading India to the T20 World Cup and Asia Cup, he had pictured himself steering the team for at least two more years – through the Olympics, through another T20 World Cup, into another cycle of challenges. In his mind, he was the one carrying this group forward.

The selectors thought otherwise.

Questions without answers

Suryakumar did not lash out at the new captain. Far from it. He praised Shreyas Iyer, stressing that he had played plenty of cricket with him and knew him as a “good player, a good human being, and a good captain also.” There was no “Why him?” in his words.

The questions were aimed elsewhere.

He admitted to being “a little disappointed” – and the reason was simple. Under his watch, India had not lost a single series in two years. They had lifted the T20 World Cup. They had won the Asia Cup. From his vantage point, the project was working.

So why change it?

“When everything is going well, then why? What is the reason for the change? What is the reason for the change?” he recalled thinking as he sat at home for a month and a half, replaying events in his head. The IPL had not gone the way he wanted, he conceded, but he had just captained India to a global title. The contrast between personal form and team success gnawed at him.

Friends and family tried to soften the blow. They visited, told him it was part of life, that such turns are common in sport. Then they left. The house fell quiet again. The questions stayed.

“How can this happen? How is it possible? We just won the World Cup,” he said, describing those long days at home.

‘Time to move on’

The formal message arrived a couple of days before the squad announcement. The selectors told him, bluntly, that it was “time to move on”.

Again, no outburst. He insisted he did not react, because in his mind the decision-makers had done what they believed was best for the team. “Whatever call someone took, he must have thought that this was better for the team. Going forward, this will be a good call,” he said.

He refused to see himself as at fault, but he also refused to rail against those who had replaced him. Their call, their responsibility. He would not let it change who “SKY” is.

There was, however, one message he made sure to leave on the record.

“I am ready. You can call me anytime. I am playing cricket anytime. I will continue to play. Whenever you feel the time is right. Things are right.”

A captain who never lost a series, who lifted a World Cup at home, now waits outside the dressing-room door he once led, bat in hand, smile on his face, ready for the next call that may or may not come.