Suryakumar Yadav might have led India to a T20 World Cup title earlier this year, but his form with the bat remains a major concern for the team management and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The right-handed batter, aged 35, scored 242 runs in the Men in Blue’s victorious campaign, and his best knock came in the opening match against the USA, where he returned with an unbeaten knock of 84 runs off 49 balls. Following this encounter, Suryakumar was unable to hit the ground running and struggled to score runs in the subsequent games.
The seasoned batter has also struggled to get going in the first four Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 matches for the Mumbai Indians, scoring 106 runs with his best score being 51 against the Delhi Capitals.
According to a PTI report, there are some serious questions on whether Suryakumar would be the ideal candidate to lead India in the next T20 World Cup and the Los Angeles Olympics, both set to take place in 2028. India’s next assignment in the shortest format is the upcoming series against Ireland and England, and now it has come to light that both series will hold great significance for the under-fire Suryakumar.
The tour could decide whether Suryakumar can be given two years until the next big phase of events, including both the Olympics and the T20 World Cup. However, according to PTI, Suryakumar remains the first choice for the head coach Gautam Gambhir, who himself is expecting a contract extension until the 2028 T20 World Cup in Australia. As of now, Gambhir’s tenure is till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
“Obviously, Surya is now leading the team. But he also has to ensure that, as a batter, he maintains a level of consistency in his performances. Obviously, he will lead in the UK, but after that, discussions going forward till 2028 could be purely performance-based,” a BCCI source told PTI.
Call with Agarkar
However, it would be interesting to see how the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee would view the situation, given that Suryakumar would be pushing 38 at the time of the Olympics.
The right-handed batter had a horrible 2025, failing to score a single fifty, with his strike rate also dropping below 120. However, he made a turnaround in 2026, smashing four fifties till the end of the T20 World Cup at a strike rate of more than 160.
In the World Cup, Surya returned scores of 18, 18, 11 and 0 against teams such as South Africa, West Indies, England and New Zealand.
