Despite leading India to T20 World Cup title earlier this year, Suryakumar Yadav was left out the national squad following an extended dip in form.
Surya couldn’t score a T20I half-century last year, and also failed to leave a mark against the top-ranked teams during India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign. The 36-year-old carried his poor form into the IPL 2026, where he scored 270 runs in 13 innings at a low average of 20.77 for the Mumbai Indians (MI).
As a result, Suryakumar didn’t only lose T20I captaincy to Shreyas Iyer but was completely sidelined from the setup.
Speaking at a T20 Mumbai League Celebration of Champions event, Suryakumar on Tuesday (November 10) opened up about the emotional toll of losing both the T20I captaincy and his place in the Indian squad.
The dashing right-hander admitted that the initial two months were very difficult and left him shocked. However, the birth of his baby girl in May 2026 shifted his focus.
“Post the T20 World Cup win it has been a little difficult. I don’t want to run away from that fact. If you are not honest with yourself, it is very difficult to lead a happy life,” Suryakumar said.
“To be very honest, it (not being part of the team) has been very difficult. But at the same time, during the IPL, I was blessed with a baby girl in May. The focus shifted completely towards her. The last few months, since she was born, have been very beautiful. The first two months, though, were very difficult. But then I thought, why not go back to thinking about how I was before? “How I started my cricket? All I used to think about was playing age-group cricket for Mumbai and eventually representing Mumbai in First-Class cricket,” he added.
Surya also credited his wife, Devisha Shetty, for advising him to reconnect with the pure love and passion he had for cricket as a 15-year-old.
“I sat down and thought about all these things and started chatting with my wife. She said the same thing – I needed to bring back the love and passion for the game that I had when I was a 15-year-old kid, who wanted to represent Mumbai in Under-15 cricket,” Suryakumar stated.
“So, that’s what I started thinking about, and I am now following the same things I did 10-15 years ago. I am training again, following the same passion and the same love for the game. Everything is back to normal now. When you start thinking about it and focus on playing this sport, you want to do well for your team and your family. Things change completely, and that’s what I am doing right now. The main goal is what I used to think about before: win games for Mumbai and win the championship for Mumbai,” he further remarked.
Suryakumar Yadav is set to return to competitive action as he captains Mumbai in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, slated to begin on November 14.
