Suryakumar Yadav will captain the Indian team in ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
With only a few months until the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, attention is turning to the form of the top competitors.
India, led by the seasoned Suryakumar Yadav, is one of them; they are the reigning champions following their victory at Barbados in June 2024. The middle-order batsman, who made his international debut after turning 30, had a meteoric ascent in the T20I format.
Suryakumar Yadav has been amazing in T20I, winning the ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Year awards in 2022 and 2023, and has an exceptional record as the T20I skipper, winning 28 games out of 38 matches.
“There are a lot of players who I have to take care of (as a captain) on the field and off the field now. The boys have been very good. The response has been good on the ground. The atmosphere is completely relaxed. Everything is going really well,” Suryakumar said in an interview with the ICC.
Suryakumar Yadav was a surprise pick for India T20I captain after senior figures Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja, and Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain for the T20 World Cup in 2024.
“There are a lot of players who’ve come in doing really well, making my job easier when I'm on the ground, and it's good to have them around playing this brand of cricket, being so fearless, which is what we've been talking about when we play this format. So, it’s made my job a lot easier,” Suryakumar said.
India hasn’t lost a T20I series since the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup.
“When we won the T20 World Cup in 2024, we came back to India, and then this captaincy stint started for the T20 team. The next goal, my wife told me, I think the next goal has to be a World Cup-winning captain. I'm very fortunate, and I think blessed, and it's a good opportunity that we are playing a T20 World Cup in India in front of Indian fans. I heard recently that no other nation has ever defended this trophy. So, it will be a very good challenge and good responsibility as well, and I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun playing in India,” Suryakumar Yadav on his personal ambitions.
Suryakumar was questioned on his iconic catch in the last over of the previous tournament, a breathtaking performance deep in the field that essentially guaranteed India's second title victory.
“I don't want to lie about it, but I myself must have seen it more than a million times since that T20 World Cup happened. I mean anywhere; wherever I meet anyone today, they still remind me of that catch. It's still there in my phone, saved in the gallery. So, I keep seeing it because it was a special moment; you can’t run away from the fact,” he added.
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