New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) Former T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has opened up about the shock and disappointment he felt after being removed from captaincy despite guiding India to the T20 World Cup title at home.
Suryakumar was subsequently left out of India’s T20I squad for the United Kingdom tour, which featured matches against Ireland and England. Shreyas Iyer was appointed the new T20I captain following his successful stint with Punjab Kings in the IPL.
Suryakumar said he spent nearly two months struggling to understand what had happened.
“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?” he told former India cricketer Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.
“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 35-year-old Mumbai batter has established himself as one of India’s leading T20I run-scorers, accumulating 3,272 runs in 113 matches at a strike rate of 162.94 and an average of 36.35. His international record includes four centuries, 25 fifties and a highest score of 117.
However, his numbers have dipped since India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. In his following 42 innings, Suryakumar has scored 932 runs at an average of 25.88, with only six half-centuries.
Despite the setbacks, Suryakumar said he deliberately chose not to react emotionally when his name was missing from the squad.
“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 admitted that being removed from the leadership role was something he had never anticipated. He had expected to remain at the helm and help India prepare for the next phase of T20 cricket.
“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.” Suryakumar also backed his successor Iyer, whom he described as a talented cricketer, a good person and a capable captain. He said he did not question the decision to hand Iyer the leadership.
“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)?'” PTI ATK SSC SSC
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