The Sociable Skipper

SURYAKUMAR YADAV is India’s T20 captain. Rightly so. He has done enough over the years to get the role. Since taking over, he has pro­vided clarity to almost all of his teammates and has done well. Thirteen out of 15 wins in the last 12 months speak for themselves. He is all set to continue till the 2026 T20 World Cup on home soil. Continuation beyond that could depend on results, and in a possible sce­nario, he could still be at the helm in a lead­ership role till the 2028 LA Olympics which will soon be part of the T20 cricket calendar.

Surya, many people I have spoken to con­firm, is a captain of the players. He is keen on continuity, giving every player a fair run, and has always been clear about their respec­tive roles. Sanju Samson is a case in point. Samson, through his career, struggled to get a long run in the team. Almost always, he played a couple of matches and was benched. With Surya at the helm, Samson was told that he would be given a long run as opener and this was his opportunity. Three hundreds in 10 games and Samson has now made the spot his own.

The same could be said of Abhishek Sharma. He plays a high-risk, high-reward game and it is only natural that he will not fire in all matches. For such a player, you need to give him the confidence to not change his approach and bat unhindered in the matches to come. That is exactly what Surya has done.

“He knows the middle overs are the problem area in a T20 game. By then, the field is spread and you don’t have the advantage of power play. Also, you need to conserve energy for the death and we have often seen that scoring rates fall in the middle overs. Surya himself wants to take control of these overs and make sure things don’t drift. That’s the best part about him. He is unafraid to take the tough calls and bat in tough situa­tions. He has managed to overcome fear of failure and that’s what is showing in the clarity of his decisionmaking,” said a source close to developments.

Surya knew it could be touch-and-go with his own injury. He had a surgery in London in June—the Asia Cup had not been announced yet. Surgeries are always difficult to negotiate. The Bangladesh series had been rescheduled and there was a clear window for him to pick the date. But soon after the Asia Cup was announced, Surya made sure that his rehab was on track. He was diligent and committed and made a detailed comeback plan. He made progress every day and yet did not overdo things. It is his belief in the process that has seen him through. He is now fighting fit to lead the Indian Asia Cup campaign in Dubai.

Surya, unlike some others, has come up the hard way. For the longest time, he had to wait in the wings. Months and years went by and yet he was not picked. He was scoring hundreds of runs in domestic cricket and IPL and yet when it came to the national team, he continued to be overlooked. All it did was strengthen his resolve. We do not know if it impacted his mental health, but what we do know is that it made him more focused and hardworking. And when he did get an oppor­tunity, he made it count. As leader, he hasn’t forgotten his lessons.

He knows that players will do their best if they are not insecure. If someone is continuously thinking about his spot in the side, he can never perform to his ability. You need to make the players feel confident and not fear failure. That brings the best out of them. Surya has managed to do so with Samson, Tilak and Abhishek. That has helped India’s T20 cricket in the last 12 months.

“The skipper is very clear that it will not just be IPL that will define team selection. It could and should be a yardstick, but certainly not the only one. If you have played well for India in the past, you will be rewarded. Take the case of Sanju Samson. He did not have a good IPL for Rajasthan and was even injured for a while. But that doesn’t mean Sanju wasn’t picked. He has done well for India given the opportunities, and that is the basis of his selection. That’s how Surya operates,” said a source.

Surya is conscious the India-Pakistan match is far more than just cricket. Against the backdrop of what happened at Pahalgam, India cannot afford to lose this game. It adds to the pressure and that is where clarity is needed. Do you need Bumrah for the match against Pakistan? Can you not rest him for the other games, assuming India has enough firepower without Bumrah to account for the UAE and Oman?

A good Asia Cup for Surya and his team will mean India has its core settled for the World T20 in February-March 2026. While a few minor tweaks can never be ruled out, and for that the Asia Cup could well be the rehearsal, the bulk of the players will pick themselves ahead of the World Cup. With T20s fixed against South Africa and New Zealand at home in December-January and against Australia in October, India has enough matches in the pipeline to finalise the World Cup squad.

In all of this, Surya staying fit is the key. He is one who will lead from the front and will take responsibility in the change room. In standing up for teammates like Samson and Tilak, Surya has earned the respect of his players. In a change room that is most important. As in red-ball cricket, where Shubman Gill has now earned the respect of the dressing room with his ex­ploits in England, in T20 it is Surya who has done the same.

India has never won back-to-back world ti­tles and 2026 could be a golden opportunity. With a huge talent pool in white-ball cricket, Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav are poised to lead Indian cricket in the shortest format for the next six months.

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