Time for BCCI to plan for life after Suryakumar Yadav

Umesh Sharma

Suryakumar Yadav (Source: AFP)Suryakumar Yadav (Source: AFP)

India are set to feature in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 under the leadership of their out-of-form skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar Yadav has been struggling with a poor run of form for the last one year, especially since he took over the full-time captaincy role in T20Is from Rohit Sharma. 

For the T20 World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav will be assisted by all-rounder Axar Patel as his vice-captain. The announcement shocked a lot of Indian fans, as no one expected such large scale changes in India's T20 World Cup squad. 

Meanwhile, dropping Shubman Gill from the T20 World Cup squad also raised fresh questions around India's future leadership planning as they were looking forward to having Gill as the all-format skipper.  

"It's practically impossible to have three different captains for the three formats in terms of planning. You've got to start planning. You also play it (ODIs) the least. We are two years away from 2027 World Cup. We don't play as many games. It is a bit of a challenge with one-day cricket. The focus has been on the T20 World Cup," said chief selector Ajit Agarkar when Gill took over ODI captaincy from Rohit Sharma. 

That said, here’s a dive into the question if it’s time for India to sit back and think about preparing for the T20I leadership after Suryakumar Yadav, considering his miserable form and the age-factor.

Suryakumar Yadav, the batter compromised under captaincy pressure

Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is before full-time captaincy

Criterion
Data
Innings65
Runs 2340
Average43.33
Strike Rate167.74
Highest117
50s19
100s4

Before taking over the full-time captaincy, Suryakumar Yadav used to be one of the star performers with the bat for India. He had scored 2340 runs in 65 innings, with an average of 43.33, hitting four centuries and 19 half-centuries. 

Interestingly, these are his batting numbers till the T20 World Cup 2024 final. These numbers also include his seven matches as part-time captain in former skipper Rohit Sharma’s absence during this time span. 

But, the full-time captaincy seems to have marginalised Suryakumar Yadav, the batter, owing to the added leadership pressure.  

Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is as full-time captain

Criterion
Data
Innings
28
Runs448
Average 17.92
Strike Rate143.13
Highest75
50s 2
100s 0

SKY has scored just 448 runs in 28 innings of 31 games as India’s full-time T20I captain. In these appearances, the 35-year-old has registered an average of just 17.92, with two half-centuries and a strike rate of 143.13.  

So, investing  trust in Suryakumar Yadav as captain for the prestigious cricket biennial is no less than BCCI’s ‘gambled’ approach.  It will be quite interesting to see what BCCI comes out with, if the skipper continues to fail with the bat in the marquee international tournament. 

Where is India heading with short-sighted vision 

It all started with the moment when the BCCI sidelined the all-rounder Hardik Pandya from the leadership after the T20 World Cup 2024. This decision came despite Pandya’s brilliant record as India's T20I captain, with 10 wins, five defeats and a tied game in 16 games. 

It was later followed by the appointment of Shubman Gill as vice-captain despite. The added leadership pressure also pushed Gill's batting form to a miserable low in the shortest format of the game.

Evidently, fans are left with the following question: "What was the thought process behind appointing Gill as VC if you eventually dropped him from the T20 World Cup 2026?"  

This string of ‘short-sighted’ and ‘vision-lacked’ decisions from the management needs to be stopped to have a strong leadership core and stability.  

Conclusion: India digging their own grave in shortest format 

With this approach of ‘digging the well on thirst’, India are doing nothing other than shaping up their own grave in the T20Is. It becomes clearly visible in their pattern of repeating the mistakes while planning the leadership core in this particular format. 

It will not be an overstatement to say that India are eyeing a massive leadership void and fluctuations in the T20Is after Suryakumar Yadav. His form and age-factor leave BCCI in a position to think about the names like Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah or Hardik Pandya as captain in the shortest format of the game.