Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 29 (ANI): Former Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav spoke on being dropped from the team after securing the T20 World Cup on home soil, admitting that he was "completely shocked" and a lot was going on his mind regarding his future in the sport.
Suryakumar was speaking on former cricketer Aakash Chopra's YouTube channel. After winning the T20 World Cup, Suryakumar was dropped from the T20I side named for the tour to the UK (matches against Ireland and England), and it was Shreyas Iyer who was appointed as the new T20I captain following some success with Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL. Despite his incredible captaincy, Suryakumar's dip in batting form perhaps played a big role in his omission from the team.
Speaking to Aakash on his YouTube channel, he said, "I sat at home for 40-50 days. I was doing nothing, and I was completely shocked. I was thinking, what should I do now? Do I want to play or not? A lot was going on in my mind. One day, suddenly my wife said, 'Just think about why you started playing this game 20 years ago? Because you were mad for this game. Then bring that passion back again."
The World Cup-winning captain also said that he smiled when he found his name was not there in the team, saying that he "always smiled" when he faced pressure situations while playing his cricket.
"Aise hi smile kiya tha maine jabhi mera naam nahi tha (I smiled like this when my name was not there). Whatever cricket I played throughout the two years, whenever I was in situations where there was pressure and things were not going my way, I have always smiled," he said.
Suryakumar is India's third-highest T20I run-getter with 3,272 runs in 113 matches at an average of 36.35 and a strike rate of 162.94, with four centuries and 25 fifties and best score of 117. However, post-T20 WC 2024, his form fizzled out with the bat, scoring 932 runs in 42 innings at an average of 25.88 and a strike rate of over 152, with just six fifties.
He did not have a great IPL 2026 with Mumbai Indians (MI) either, scoring 270 runs in 13 innings, with two fifties and a strike rate of over 147.
Suryakumar admitted that he did not see his omission coming and was preparing to take the team forward for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the T20 World Cup same year in Australia-New Zealand. But when a final call was taken, Suryakumar admitted to not reacting to it.
"I also did not think this would happen. I was preparing to take this team forward for another two years; then the Olympics will come, then there will be another T20 World Cup, another challenge going forward. But at the same time, what you think and what others are thinking are two different things. If they thought that this is a better call going forward, they took that call. But I did not react," he said.
On the appointment of Shreyas, a fellow Mumbaikar, as the captain, he said that he did not feel a sense of injustice but was a little disappointed after his omission despite a monumental run as a captain, which saw them not lose a single series and win the Asia Cup and the T20 WC.
"I have played a lot of cricket with Shreyas, and I know he is a good player, a good human being, and a good captain. I didn't think, 'Arrey, isko kyu banaya (Why was he chosen)?' But yes, I was a bit disappointed because we had not lost a single series in two years and also won the World Cup and Asia Cup; then you want the same thing to go forward. If everything is going well, why change it? I was sitting at home and thinking, 'Aisa kaise ho sakta hai (How can this happen)?," he signed off.
Speaking about training for a potential Indian team comeback, the 35-year-old said that he wants to focus on T20s and he "does not want to talk about ODI cricket", saying that he could not "understand" the format despite trying to adapt to it.
"I am preparing with the mindset that I want to play cricket, and I know how to play this format (T20s). I do not want to talk about ODI cricket, maine bohot try kiya (I tried that a lot), but I did not understand it," he signed off.
In 37 ODIs, Suryakumar scored 773 runs in 35 innings at an average of 25.76 and a strike rate of over 105, with four fifties and best score of 72*. (ANI)
Suryakumar Yadav admits being "completely shocked" by T20I omission, speaks on ODI future
