Suryakumar Yadav admitted that losing his place in the India T20 side after leading the side to the 2026 T20 World Cup was a very difficult phase for him.
Talking at the T20 Mumbai League event held on Tuesday to felicitate the tournament winners, Surya said: “Post the T20 World Cup, it has been a little difficult. I don’t want to run away from the fact…if you’re not honest to yourself, it’s very difficult to lead a happy life. To be very honest, it has been very difficult but then at the same time, during IPL I was blessed with a baby girl in May. So, the focus shifted completely towards her. So, the last few months since she’s born have been very beautiful.”
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The 36-year-old, India’s 360-degree batter until not so long ago, added: “The first two months after IPL were difficult but then I thought why not think about how I was before. How I started my cricket, when I used to think I want to play age-group cricket for Mumbai, I want to play First-Class cricket for Mumbai.
“All these things I chatted with my wife and she said the same thing, that you need to bring back that love and passion for the game, what you had when you were a 15-year-old kid who wanted to represent Mumbai in age group cricket.
“So, that’s what I started talking about, and I’m following right now what I did 10-15 years ago — training again, following the same passion for this game — and everything is back to normal. When you start thinking about it and you’re focused to play the sport, you want to do well for your team and your family things change completely… The main goal is what I used to think before — win the championship for Mumbai.”
The championship Surya refers to is the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, after Mumbai selectors appointed him skipper of the white-ball teams.
Appointed India skipper to take over from Rohit Sharma after the 2024 T20 World Cup win, Surya had a brilliant two-year spell in the job, culminating in defending the title at home.
While the team achieved glory, Surya’s own batting form was patchy going into the tournament. The selectors chose to move on and build a side for the next World Cup cycle under Shreyas Iyer. Age and batting form were held against Surya, although he had found some rhythm in the World Cup, playing a match winning innings in the tournament opener against USA, and following it up with a couple of good cameos in key games.
However, he had a middling IPL for Mumbai Indians.
In another setback, he was overlooked for the Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad. However, the selectors have given him a lifeline as the Mumbai white-ball skipper. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy starts later this week and Mumbai will be based in Kolkata.