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Suryakumar Yadav has opened up about one of the biggest shocks of his cricket career after losing both his T20I captaincy and place in the India squad, just months after leading the team to the 2026 T20 World Cup title.
Under Suryakumar, India enjoyed an outstanding run. The team did not lose a single T20I series during his captaincy and also won the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup. He led India in 52 T20Is and won 42. He has an impressive 80.76% win rate as India’s T20I captain. Amid this, Shubman Gill’s declaration plan was selfishly blocked by Gautam Gambhir in the Colombo Test.
Suryakumar Yadav reveals biggest shock of his career after India captaincy exit
Despite this record, the Indian team management and the national selectors decided to move on and handed the captaincy to Shreyas Iyer. Suryakumar Yadav had already been informed about the decision a few days before the squad announcement, but the move still left him shocked.
The biggest surprise for Suryakumar was the timing. After winning the 2026 T20 World Cup, the stylish batter believed he would continue leading India for at least another two years, and that’s why he was preparing for the 2028 Olympics and T20 World Cup.
Suryakumar Yadav said on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel, “I smiled after spotting that my name isn’t there. Whenever I have been in pressure situations or when things aren’t going in my favor, I’ve always smiled and relaxed. I have looked back at the moments and been grateful.
I didn’t think this would happen in 2026. I was under the impression that I was preparing to take this team forward for another two years—the Olympics, another T20 World Cup, and then another challenge going forward.”
Suryakumar Yadav opens up on painful India setback
He spent nearly one and a half months trying to understand how they took such a call. However, Suryakumar has no issue with Iyer taking over as captain and respects his abilities, but questioned why he was removed from the captaincy, especially when India was winning consistently. Amid this, Dinesh Karthik advised to reject CSK head coach role.
Suryakumar further explained, “For one-and-a-half months I kept thinking, how can this happen? How is it possible? We just won the World Cup. Yes, the IPL wasn’t as good as how I wanted. Friends and family consoled me that this is part of life. But once they leave, you are alone with your family. We were thinking, how is it possible?”
He added, “The guy they’ve picked, I have played a lot of cricket with him. I know he’s a good player, a good human being, and a good captain also. So, I didn’t resent the decision but was disappointed because we didn’t lose a series for two years and won the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup—you want the same thing to go forward. When everything is going well, then why the change?”
Selectors wanted to move on from Suryakumar Yadav, star batter ready to fight back
Despite losing his place, the star batter has made it clear that he is not retiring from international cricket. He is working hard to be ready whenever India feels the time is right and needs his services.
At the end, Suryakumar shared that the selectors called me 2-3 days before the team was announced. They wanted to move on from him, citing his poor form, and he didn’t react because it’s not his forte.
