The Curious Afterlife of Suryakumar Yadav’s World Cup Win

Suryakumar Yadav’s year has had three very different chapters. On March 8, 2026, he captained India to a 96-run win over New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India became the first team to retain the trophy and the first to win it at home. Three months later, on June 6, the selectors named Shreyas Iyer captain for the tours of Ireland and England and left Suryakumar out of the squad altogether. Cricinfo described it as unprecedented in Indian cricket.

Form was the main reason given. Suryakumar scored 218 runs in 21 matches in 2025, and 270 runs in 13 innings in IPL 2026, his lowest IPL total since 2017. Then chief selector Ajit Agarkar called the decision “a tough one, having just won the World Cup”, but said the panel wanted a new captain for the cycle leading to the 2028 World Cup. Agarkar also said Shreyas’ batting made the choice easier.

Suryakumar was told a few days before the squad was announced. By his account, the selectors said it was “time to move on.” He did not argue. “I smiled when my name was not there,” he told Aakash Chopra. The weeks that followed were harder. He stayed at home for 40 to 50 days, did nothing, and wondered whether he wanted to keep playing. He had expected to lead India for two more years.

The new set-up did not start well. India lost 2-0 to Ireland in Belfast and 4-0 to England, with the last game of that series played at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on July 11. The first match against England was washed out. Shreyas Iyer was winless in his first seven T20Is as captain, and India lost the No. 1 spot in the T20I rankings. Seven games is a small sample, and Shreyas has time. But the selectors had spoken about the future, and the first result of that future was a whitewash.

Suryakumar had talked about this kind of risk before. In October 2025, after Shubman Gill was made captain in Tests and ODIs, he was asked whether he feared losing the T20I job. “Everyone feels that fear,” he said, adding that it kept a player motivated.

His way back started at home. His wife told him to remember why he began playing 20 years ago and bring that feeling back. His daughter was born in May, during the IPL, and his attention shifted to her. Speaking at a Mumbai Cricket Association event on November 10, he did not play it down. “To be very honest, it has been very difficult,” he said. He has gone back to training the way he did 10 to 15 years ago, and his aim is the same one he had as a 15-year-old: win a title for Mumbai.

That chance comes with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which starts on November 14, with Suryakumar as Mumbai captain. It is a T20 tournament, and a good place for a batter short of runs to find his rhythm with less attention on him. Runs there will not decide India selection, but selectors do follow domestic cricket, and a strong tournament would be hard to ignore.

He has said he is available for India whenever they want him. Whether they call is up to the selectors. For now, the question is whether he still has the runs.