It took Suryakumar Yadav 11 years and 31 days to wear the India jersey for the first time. And when he finally got his chance, he did not waste a single second. On March 14, 2021, in Ahmedabad, facing one of the fastest bowlers in the world, Jofra Archer, Suryakumar hit a six on the very first ball he faced in international cricket. That one shot told the world everything about the kind of cricketer he was going to be.
But five years later, the same Ahmedabad became the city where his India story came full circle. He lifted the T20 World Cup 2026 trophy there, and just two months after that, he was removed as India’s T20I captain and dropped from the squad altogether. The sun had finally set on one of the most remarkable careers in Indian T20 cricket.
A Wait That Lasted Over a Decade
Suryakumar Yadav was born on September 22, 1990, in Mumbai, to Ashok Kumar Yadav and Swapna Yadav. He started playing professional cricket early, but the national call-up simply refused to come. While other players got opportunities, Surya kept grinding in domestic cricket, playing for Mumbai and spending eight seasons with Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
Year after year, selectors looked the other way. He was even called too old for international cricket at one point. But he did not stop. His wife Devisha Shetty played a huge role in keeping him going during those tough years. Surya has spoken openly about how she helped him stay focused when things felt hopeless.
Three back-to-back strong IPL seasons for Mumbai Indians in 2018, 2019 and 2020 finally forced the selectors to take notice. The wait was over. Suryakumar Yadav made his T20I debut at the age of 30 years and 181 days, one of the oldest debuts for an Indian cricketer.
The First Ball, The First Six, and The Beginning of Something Special
In his very first T20I match, Suryakumar did not get a chance to bat. But four days later, Virat Kohli gave up his No.3 batting spot for him. What followed was a shot that people still talk about. Jofra Archer bowled a short, fast ball coming in. Most batters would have tried to get out of the way. Surya lifted one leg off the ground and pulled it for a six over fine leg. Just like that, on the first ball he faced in T20I cricket, he hit a six.
That shot, later called the ‘supla shot,’ was not just a cricket stroke. It was a statement. India had found a batter who was completely fearless, someone who did not care about the bowler’s reputation or the situation of the game. The Suryoday, the sunrise, had arrived.
Mr 360 and the Road to World No.1
After that debut, Suryakumar Yadav went on a run that very few cricketers in the world have ever matched. He started hitting bowlers in every single direction, behind square, over extra cover, over fine leg, through the off side, through the on side. There was no safe area to bowl at him. Because of this, he earned the nickname ‘Mr 360.’ Even AB de Villiers of South Africa, who originally held that title, approved of Surya using it.
The numbers from his peak years are almost hard to believe. After facing just 626 deliveries in T20Is, he became the World No.1 T20I batter on November 2, 2022. His strike rate at that time was 177.47. He then held the World No.1 ranking for 20 months straight. He won the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year award in both 2022 and 2023, the only Indian to win it back to back.
In 2022 alone, he scored 1,164 runs in T20Is, the highest single-year tally of his career. In 2023, he added 6 fifties and 2 centuries to his record.
| Year | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
| 2021 | 424 | 47.11 | 171.66 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1,164 | 46.56 | 187.44 | 8 | 2 |
| 2023 | 733 | 52.36 | 168.22 | 6 | 2 |
| 2024 | 401 | 28.64 | 151.59 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025 | 191 | 13.63 | 123.16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 | 363 | — | 161.33 | 3 | 0 |
The 2024 T20 World Cup: India’s Drought Ends
India had not won an ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy. That long wait finally ended at the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the Caribbean. Suryakumar was India’s second-highest run-scorer in the tournament and played some key cameos on slow, difficult pitches where other big hitters struggled.
But it was not just his batting that made a difference. In the final against South Africa, when David Miller was threatening to win the game for South Africa, Suryakumar took a stunning catch near the boundary to dismiss him. That catch is now one of the most talked-about moments in T20 World Cup history. It directly helped India win the title after an 11-year wait.
The Accidental Captain
After the 2024 T20 World Cup, Indian cricket went through a massive change. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja all retired from T20Is. With Hardik Pandya struggling with injuries and Shreyas Iyer out of the squad, the selectors had a big decision to make. They turned to Suryakumar Yadav, not because he was the first choice, but because the other options were not available. He was, as many called him, the accidental captain.
Hardik Pandya had been seen as the natural next captain. He had even led India in 16 T20Is before injuries caught up with him. With Rishabh Pant still recovering from his serious car crash, the BCCI had no real option but to go with Surya.
What happened next, however, was not accidental at all. Suryakumar Yadav turned out to be a very good captain.
A Captain Who Never Lost a Series
Under Surya’s leadership, India did not lose a single bilateral T20I series. He led India to series wins in South Africa and Australia, two very tough places to play. He also won the Asia Cup 2025, where he made headlines for refusing to shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha at the toss, a move that came just months after Operation Sindoor. He also refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s interior minister. The trophy, as a result, remains locked at the ACC office in Dubai to this day.
His overall record as captain tells a very clear story:
| Matches | Won | Lost | Win% |
| 52 | 42 | 10 | 84% |
For comparison, Rohit Sharma, one of the best T20I captains India has had, won 80.65% of his matches in 62 games. Surya’s 84% winning percentage is actually better than that.
The Second T20 World Cup Title
The biggest test of his captaincy came with the T20 World Cup 2026, which was held at home in India. The pressure was enormous. India were the defending champions, the tournament was on home soil, and every match was going to be watched by millions.
Surya rose to the moment. He managed his players well, dealt with selection challenges, and gave strong backing to Sanju Samson, who turned out to be the hero of the tournament. India won the T20 World Cup 2026, becoming back-to-back world champions. Suryakumar Yadav became only the third Indian captain to win a T20 World Cup, after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma.
He lifted the trophy in Ahmedabad, the same city where his journey had started with that first-ball six against Jofra Archer more than five years earlier.
When the Form Left Him
Even before the World Cup wins, the cracks had started to show. As early as 2024, Surya had already lost his World No.1 ranking. His strike rate dropped from 187.44 in 2022 to 151.59 in 2024. The centuries and fifties that came so easily in 2022 and 2023 had stopped coming.
Then came 2025, which was the worst year of his career. He played 19 innings and could not score even a single half-century. His batting average fell to just 13.63, and his strike rate dropped to 123.16, the lowest of his career by a big margin. The batter who once had no weakness was suddenly looking like a very different cricketer.
There were some positive signs in IPL 2025, where he scored 717 runs at a strike rate of 167.91. But that form simply did not carry over to his India performances.
IPL 2026, The Final Nail
IPL 2026 was Surya’s last real chance to save his India career. At 35, he did not have time on his side, and a nagging wrist injury made things harder. Instead of a strong comeback, IPL 2026 became the final chapter. He scored just 270 runs in 14 innings at an average of 20.76 with only two half-centuries.
The BCCI and selectors had seen enough. With a new T20 World Cup cycle beginning and an Olympics gold medal on the agenda, they made their call. Suryakumar Yadav was removed as India’s T20I captain and dropped from the squad, just two months after winning the World Cup.
His replacement as captain was Shreyas Iyer, his Mumbai teammate, who was not even part of the T20 World Cup squad.
What He Leaves Behind
If this is the end of Suryakumar Yadav’s India career, he finishes as one of the greatest T20 batters India has ever produced. He is India’s third-highest run-scorer in T20Is, with 3,272 runs in 107 innings. He scored 4 centuries and 25 fifties, led India in 52 matches with a win percentage of 84%, and won two T20 World Cups, one as a player and one as the captain.
His career stats in T20Is:
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s |
| 113 | 107 | 3,272 | 36.36 | 162.95 | 4 | 25 |
He waited 11 years to debut. He hit a six on his first ball. He became the best T20 batter in the world. He won two World Cups. And then, just as quickly as the sun sets on a summer evening, it was over.
The Suryoday came late. The Suryast came too soon.
The post From First-Ball Six to Being Dropped: The Rise and Fall of Suryakumar Yadav appeared first on Sportzcraazy.
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