Suryakumar Yadav became India’s fourth World Cup-winning captain on Sunday (March 8), joining the likes of Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur, as the Men in Blue outclassed New Zealand by 96 runs in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 at Ahmedabad.
On a personal front, however, Surya failed to live up to the expectations with bat in hand. He smashed 49-ball 84* in India’s campaign opener against the USA. However, his form faded again as the tournament progressed. The right-hander ended the event with 242 runs in 9 innings at an average of 30.25 and a strike rate of 136.72.
Speaking on the latest episode of The ICC Review, Australian legend Ricky Ponting noted that skipper Suryakumar kept himself calm despite ups and downs in his batting returns.
“It's about a lot more than what they do off the field, the things that people don't see and how they interact with their players. He didn't have a great time himself as a player, but still, he's standing at the end holding up a World Cup trophy,” Ponting said.
“I know as a former captain, when you're not batting at your absolute best, captaincy can become really difficult. And when you are batting well, captaincy can become really easy,” he added.
Sanju Samson played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup title defence and deservedly earned the Player-of-the-Tournament accolade.
The wicketkeeper-batter wasn’t part of India’s XI at the start of the competition but shone with Player-of-the-Match exploits against the West Indies (97* off 50 in a must-win Super 8 fixture) and England (89 off 42 in the semifinal) before making the highest individual score in a Men’s T20 World Cup final with 89 (46 balls) against New Zealand.
Samson finished the competition as the third highest run-getter, amassing 321 runs from just five innings at an average of 80.25 and a remarkable strike rate of 199.37.
Reflecting on Samson’s redemption journey after an awful series against New Zealand earlier this year, Ponting said the faith shown in him by captain Suryakumar Yadav and the coaching staff proved to be the difference on the biggest stage.
“For India to stick with him at the top there, that was a big call to make. A big decision, but one that worked out really well in the end. If you get the backing of the coaching staff and the captain, then that's all you need.
“Just a pat on the back or an arm around the shoulder to say, ‘we're sticking with you, we believe in you.' When you've got the quality that Sanju's got, and the confidence of the captain and coach behind you, that's when great things can happen,” Ponting remarked.
Samson’s opening partner Abhishek Sharma stepped up in the final after struggling throughout the tournament. The southpaw slammed the fastest half-century of the tournament in just 18 balls en route to 52 off 21. His knock, studded with 6 fours and 3 sixes, laid the foundation of India’s mammoth 255/5 in 20 overs, which proved to be too much for the Kiwis, who were bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.
“It would have been really interesting to see how Surya has interacted with Abhishek (Sharma) and Sanju (Samson) over the last few weeks. That's where the real stories will come out on true leadership,” Ponting said.
(With PTI Inputs)
