India could look at a new T20 captain beyond Suryakumar

New Delhi: Suryakumar Yadav must consider himself lucky India won the ICC T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad on Sunday under his leadership, despite a very dry run from his own bat. There has been a plethora of interviews of the captain as well as coach Gautam Gambhir, after the massive win against New Zealand.

One common thread, noticeable, is, how the template for Team India, post the triumph in the 2024 edition of the World Cup in the West Indies was “not to focus on individuals but the team.”

This line of thinking, mentioned in the interviews, is a bit strange.

It clearly shows the captain and coach still have some grudge against Rohit Sharma, winning captain of the T20 World Cup in 2024, and his predecessor, Virat Kohli.

Just to jog the readers’ memory, just after the win in the West Indies in 2024, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had bid goodbye to the T20 international format. Their only presence, today, in international cricket, is in the ODI format. In 2027, India will be competing in the ODI World Cup in South Africa, where it is expected both Kohli and Rohit Sharma will have important roles to play with Shubman Gill as captain.

Looking at the calendar for Indian cricket, after the conclusion of the latest World Cup, the emphasis is on more ODIs. That has been accepted by the BCCI as well, with the tour to New Zealand, later this year, becoming a high profile one.

Back to Suryakumar Yadav, he had also said after the World Cup win, the next goal is the 2028 ICC T20 World Cup and the Olympics in Los Angeles, where cricket is a medal sport. Why Rohit and Kohli chose to retire from T20m internationals is well-known, they were not getting younger. Surya will turn 36 in September.

So, when the BCCI sits down and ideates, after the Indian Premier League (IPL) fever is over, the blueprint for the ODI World Cup, as well as the important events in 2028 will be debated upon.

It is hard to imagine the BCCI will go with Surya as captain in the T20 format, as he will turn 38 in 2028.

Add to it his lack of form, which began even before the World Cup, he has not looked one bit as a match-winner. By Surya’s own admission in an interview there was a furore when India dropped vice-captain Axar Patel for the match against South Africa. For the record, the only time Surya did as well as he should was against the United States of America in the World Cup opener in Mumbai last month.

Surya has also been singing praise of “Jay Bhai” – Jay Shah, who was secretary of the BCCI in 2024. Today, Jay Shah is a big man as the ICC chairman. Decisions pertaining to Indian cricket will be taken by the BCCI, where, today, Devajit Saikia, as the secretary is fully empowered.

It is hard to imagine the BCCI not planning for a younger T20 captain who can handle the leadership role in 2028. Indeed, Surya being critical of two former teammates, indirectly, is surprising.

The world knows, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were in the T20 national team as performers. Even now, they are in the ODI mix, by sheer weight of performance.