Suryakumar Yadav on Sunday (March 8) became India’s fourth World Cup-winning captain, joining Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur, after the Men in Blue outclassed New Zealand by 96 runs in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 at Ahmedabad.

Days after the historic triumph, Suryakumar recalled his conversation with deputy Axar Patel, who got angry after being informed about his non-selection in a particular fixture.

Notably, Axar missed a couple of matches during the victorious campaign. He did not feature in the team’s inconsequential Group A clash against the Netherlands and was also snubbed from the Super 8 opener against South Africa.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Suryakumar revealed that Axar was upset, and he apologised while explaining the reason for exclusion.

“He (Axar) was very angry – and he should have been. He’s an experienced player; he leads a franchise. He should be angry. I apologised. I told him I made a mistake and I’m sorry, but it was a call for the team. It was a hard conversation. He took it in his stride, and we talked it through the next day,” Surya said.

Axar was brought back into the playing XI after India suffered a 76-run thrashing at the hands of Proteas and faced a must-win situation against Zimbabwe and West Indies to qualify for the semifinals.

Suryakumar Yadav was handed India’s T20I captaincy in July 2024 following Rohit Sharma’s retirement. Under his leadership, the team didn’t drop a series or tournament leading up to the T20 World Cup, where they lost only one match.

Suryakumar said the planning for the global event began soon after he was appointed captain in 2024. One of the first changes the team underwent was adopting the fearless brand of cricket and stop paying attention to personal milestones.

“We knew the way we played the 2024 T20 World Cup – that brand of cricket – won’t work going ahead. So, we decided: from hereon we will not pay attention to personal milestones, the goal is to win games," Surya stated.

“If you noticed, till the semifinals none of our players were top run-getters or top wicket-takers. But we qualified and kept winning. Every game, every player contributed. It was very important to spread this thing like a virus in the team from the start. We planted this team culture 18 months back," he remarked.