India captain Suryakumar Yadav has opened up on how he pipped then vice-captain Hardik Pandya to the position right after the T20 World Cup 2024 win in Barbados. Speaking to PTI, Suryakumar has, for the first time in the last one and a half years, revealed the exact circumstances in which he came to know that he would take over the T20I side from Rohit Sharma following the latter’s retirement.
The decision, when announced, came as a shock to many as all-rounder Hardik Pandya had led the side through the 2022-23 season after Rohit and Virat Kohli took a voluntary break from the T20I setup. In the T20 World Cup 2024, Hardik was one of India’s key performers and played a pivotal role in the final to help India end their ICC trophy drought.
Despite his heroics, Hardik was not named the T20I captain, with the baton instead passed to Suryakumar Yadav.
Yadav revealed that it was then BCCI secretary Jay Shah who broke the news to him only a few days before India’s first bilateral series after the T20 World Cup win.
“So we waited for a few days before the series. Then there was a time when Jay Bhai, the BCCI secretary at that time, called me three or four days before the Sri Lanka series. I think we were going to Sri Lanka,” Suryakumar Yadav said in the interview.
Suryakumar added that he believed the decision had been shaped by the leadership group at the time, Rohit Sharma, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and then head coach Rahul Dravid.
“He called me and told me that they were making me the captain of the T20 team going forward. Yes, he called me first. But I was pretty sure that it was all being planned by Rohit Bhai and Ajit Bhai at that time,” he said.
“Gautam Bhai came in later. They, along with Rahul Sir, Rahul Dravid, the coach then, had discussed it with Jay Bhai. Then they decided that I should lead India going forward,” the batter added.
HARDIK REMOVED FROM LEADERSHIP
Meanwhile, not only did Hardik get pipped by Suryakumar, he was also removed from the post of vice-captaincy – first by Shubman Gill and then by Axar Patel.
Under Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership, India soon became a dominant force in the T20I format. The team first established its supremacy in bilateral series before going on to win the T20 World Cup 2026 with a commanding performance against New Zealand national cricket team in the final.
India became the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title and also the first to lift the trophy on home soil.
Following the World Cup triumph, Suryakumar Yadav revealed that his next major target is the cricket tournament at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
