Former India captain Suryakumar Yadav broke his silence on getting dropped from the team after the T20 World Cup 2026 triumph. He revealed that it took him some time to come to terms with the selectors’ decision.
The 35-year-old admitted that he was shocked and didn’t know what to do. The swashbuckling batter stated that his wife, Devisha Shetty, motivated him to return to training.
Suryakumar remarked during an interview with ex-cricketer Aakash Chopra on YouTube:
“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.'”
On being asked about his first reaction to being dropped, Suryakumar added:
“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.”
The senior player mentioned that he didn’t expect to be dropped after the T20 World Cup 2026 triumph. He disclosed that he was in fact thinking about the upcoming T20 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.
“I also didn’t 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 didn’t react,” he added.
Suryakumar was appointed as India’s new T20I skipper. The Men in Blue did not lose a single bilateral T20I series during his tenure. The side also had successful Asia Cup 2025 and T20 World Cup 2026 campaigns under his captaincy.
“I didn’t think, ‘Arrey, isko kyu banaya?'” – Suryakumar Yadav on being replaced by Shreyas Iyer as India’s T20I skipper
The Indian selectors appointed Shreyas Iyer as the new T20I captain following the T20 World Cup 2026. Suryakumar Yadav emphasized that he didn’t question why Shreyas was chosen for the leadership position.
The Mumbai batter pointed out that he has played a lot of cricket with Iyer and reserved high praise for him. Suryakumar said in the same interview:
“I have seen the one they chose. 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)?'”
Suryakumar’s poor batting form may have cost him his place in the national side. He had a disappointing 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, scoring 270 runs across 13 matches at an average of 20.76.
Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai