No team in the history of the T20 World Cup had ever defended the crown. India changed that in March this year. Under Suryakumar Yadav, they lifted a third title, becoming both the most successful team in the tournament’s history and the first to retain it.
Three months later, Suryakumar is reportedly set to lose his place — not just as captain, but as a player. The leadership was never the issue. His form was.
An MVP-winning 700-run IPL season last year and a handful of fifties earlier this year, including the counter-attacking 84* off 49 balls against the USA in India’s T20 World Cup opener at the Wankhede Stadium, offered a faint hope that he could continue in India’s T20I setup. But a disappointing IPL 2026 campaign proved to be the final nail in the coffin.
“The selectors wanted to wait till the end of IPL to see whether he can get back to form. Since he looked completely out of form and not just out of runs… a tough call needs to be taken,” a BCCI source aware of the developments told PTI on Wednesday.
With Suryakumar’s tenure all but over, it is worth tracing back to where the story began.
The rise of a T20 phenom
After dominating the IPL for Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar brought his flair to international cricket and transformed India’s T20 batting approach. Long before strike rates became a serious talking point, he was already redefining what was possible in the format.
There have been dominant phases in T20I cricket before. Virat Kohli’s ruthless consistency. AB de Villiers at his most destructive. But what Suryakumar produced between 2021 and the end of 2023 felt different — a sustained assault on conventional batting.
During that period, he scored 2141 runs in 57 innings at an average of 45.55 and a strike rate of 171.85. He registered four centuries — the second-most by an Indian in T20Is — and 17 fifties. Only Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan scored more runs during that period, with 2287, but at a strike rate of just 128.91 and without a single century.
Among the 112 batters who faced at least 500 deliveries during those three years, Suryakumar’s strike rate was the best.
‘Not out of form, but out of runs’
That was the phrase Suryakumar repeatedly used through the early months of 2026.
He said it after the Asia Cup, during the South Africa series, and again before the T20Is against New Zealand, despite having gone 22 innings without a half-century. During that stretch, he averaged just 12.84 while striking at 117.87.
The reality painted a worrying picture.
While he remained reasonably effective against spin, his numbers against pace collapsed. He was dismissed 18 times against fast bowling at an average of just 8.11 and a strike rate of 109.77.
More concerning was the change in his scoring pattern. Suryakumar remained dangerous behind the wicket, but his strike rate in front of the wicket dropped dramatically, suggesting issues with timing and weight transfer against pace.
### A faint hope before the axe
Even amid that slump, Suryakumar reminded everyone of his quality with a stunning IPL 2025 season.
He finished with 717 runs in 16 matches at an average of 65.18 and a strike rate of 167.91 to win the MVP award. It was the first time a non-opener had scored 700 runs in a single IPL season and also the highest tally by a Mumbai Indians batter, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record.
His international numbers, however, only showed brief signs of recovery. The most notable came during the T20 World Cup, where he scored four fifties in five innings, including the match-winning effort against the USA.
Why the wait until IPL 2026?
The BCCI already had a succession plan in place before the World Cup. Age was always going to be a factor, and Suryakumar himself knew that his stint as captain was unlikely to stretch indefinitely.
However, India’s failed experiment with Shubman Gill as T20I captain bought him valuable time.
The World Cup triumph bought him even more.
In the aftermath of the title win, Suryakumar repeatedly insisted he had no plans to retire anytime soon. He openly spoke about targeting the 2028 Olympics and the 2028 T20 World Cup.
The selectors, meanwhile, chose to wait.
His performances in IPL 2025 and the New Zealand series earlier this year probably convinced them to delay a final decision until IPL 2026. But 270 runs in 13 matches for Mumbai Indians at an average of just 20.77 ultimately left little room for debate.
The writing was on the wall. The selectors simply waited until the season ended to read it out loud.
