Sky-fall: The making and unmaking of Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav (PC: BCCI)

Boria Majumdar

For a while in 2020 we had all questioned the index of making the Indian team. The one and only index should be performance. However, in the case of Suryakumar Yadav, there were reasons to be believed justice wasn’t served. Surya performed superbly in the IPL. He did so consistently and also did well in domestic cricket in the 2019-2020 season. He was a gun fielder to go with his batting and more importantly, as many former cricketers had pointed out, “Surya was versatile in the sense he could also bat at No. 5 and finished games”.

To his credit, Surya was comfortable against both pace and spin. He batted with equal aplomb in the powerplay for Mumbai Indians and once the field restrictions were over, he was adept at manoeuvring the ball and taking the innings deep.

I remember speaking to Surya when he wasn’t getting picked. My questions were clear: How does a player who is perhaps expecting a national call-up take a disappointment like this? What impact can it have on his mental equilibrium?

That’s what the hallmark of a true champion and Surya did just that. For close to three years between 2021 and 2024, he was India’s premier T20 batter. From that incredible shot off Jofra Archer on debut for a six to playing some outstanding match-winning innings, Surya rose to the pole position in the world T20 rankings.

But then, from 2025 onwards there was a slump. While there was the occasional flourish and a reminder of what he was capable of, the consistency was missing and it turned alarming at the time of the Asia Cup in September 2025. With the T20 World Cup just months away, the team management and the selectors continued with him hoping he would arrest the slump and turn things around. He did so briefly in domestic cricket and in the inaugural game of the World Cup, he played his last match-winning knock for India against the United States. It was an outstanding innings under pressure, which came at a time when India were struggling. But then, Surya wasn’t able to follow it up with anything really substantial and despite the title triumph, the murmurs were growing.

He needed a strong IPL to stay on as India’s T20I captain. In fact, from what we know, the selectors wouldn’t have moved on from him had he produced some strong performances in the IPL. A barren tournament meant the pressure kept mounting and finally things could well be over for SKY.

How will we judge Surya the leader? Almost everyone you speak to will confirm he was a good leader of men. He knew that players were at their best if they weren’t insecure. If someone is continuously thinking about his spot in the side, he can never perform to his ability. You need to make the players feel confident and not fear failure. That’s what brings the best out of them. Surya managed to do so with Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma et al. That’s what helped India’s T20 side under him, eventually earning him the mantle of the World Cup-winning captain.

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