Sky turns blue again: Suryakumar Yadav's timely rise ahead of T20 World Cup
India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav was enduring horrendous form in the lead-up to the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026. However, just 1 month ahead of the tournament, the sky has turned blue once again for the India skipper.
Imagine going into a battle with your leader having forgotten how to wield his sword, no longer capable of striking fear into the enemy. How would the rest of the army feel? How would he command his troops to overtake their rivals?
Strategy would feel fragile, belief would waver, and the sense of invincibility would vanish long before the first blow was struck. That was the uneasy feeling surrounding India as they edged closer to the T20 World Cup 2026, with their captain Suryakumar Yadav looking like a pale shadow of himself and enduring the leanest phase of his international career.
Even though India were unbeaten since their T20 World Cup triumph, they needed their captain to be firing on all cylinders to stamp their authority as favourites to lift the trophy on home soil.
However, it looked like a dream far too far-fetched, as Suryakumar continued to fail series after series, often returning to the pavilion with a wry smile on his face, almost laughing at his destiny.
It seemed as if he had used all his luck when he helped India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a stunning boundary catch during the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados, as what followed over the next 18 months was sheer misfortune.
From the end of the T20 World Cup 2024 until December 2025, Suryakumar had scored 448 runs from 28 innings at an average of 17.92, with just two fifties to his name. The India skipper had gone a whopping 23 innings without a half-century, with the clamour around his place in the team growing louder with every failure.
Surya shines against Kiwis
As India headed into the World Cup, the pressure on the skipper was immense, with many even questioning his place as the leader of the group. The belief that a struggling captain could inspire his team to a successful title defence was increasingly challenged, and the doubt pervaded the entire nation.
However, everything changed during the New Zealand series, as Suryakumar showed glimpses of his old self with a gritty knock of 32 off 22 balls in the series opener. He followed it up with a breathtaking 82* off 37 deliveries, studded with nine fours and four sixes, as he sent the ball to all corners of the ground using his trademark shots towards fine leg.
Courtesy of his knock, India chased down their joint highest target of 209 in just 15.2 overs to register an emphatic win. He followed it up with an unbeaten 57* off 26 balls as India completed another quick run chase, scoring 154 in just ten overs.
Suryakumar then finished the series with 63 off 30 balls in the final T20I in Thiruvananthapuram, which helped set up another comprehensive 46-run victory for India.
It seemed as if Suryakumar found his Midas touch as he was adjudged Player of the Series for finishing as the highest run-scorer of the rubber, amassing 242 runs from five innings at an average of 80.66 and a strike rate of 196.74, with three fifties to his name.
A lot changed for Suryakumar Yadav from the end of the South Africa series in December 2025 to the beginning of the New Zealand series in January 2026. But the drastic transformation the India captain was able to bring about within a month left many marvelling at his work ethic.
Reflecting on his comeback journey, Suryakumar revealed that he took a short break from practice and analysed his game from scratch.
How Suryakumar scripted his comeback?
“When I got that break after the South Africa series, I went back home. I packed my kit bag and kept it in the room. I didn’t do anything for nine or ten days, and when the new year started, I began practising again. I thought, what went wrong in the last year? What was I missing? When I was batting in 2021, 2022 and 2023, my first five or ten balls were at a strike rate of around 200 to 250,” said Suryakumar in an interview with Star Sports.
He revealed how he conditioned himself to bide his time at the crease, backing his ability to accelerate later with his wide range of strokes.
“Then I thought, let’s start taking a little bit of time for the first five to seven balls, get my eye in, and then later on, if I play the next 10 to 15 balls, the strike rate doubles. So I played a lot of match simulations, practised with friends who have known me for the last 10 to 15 years, and when I came into the series and started in Nagpur, I kept feeling good. I took some time. And slowly, slowly, we see this other Surya,” he added.
Having built a reputation for possessing some of the most mind-boggling shots known to the game, Suryakumar also revealed that he shifted his focus towards playing more conventional shots early in his innings, using a straight bat to build confidence.
“Absolutely. The thing is, I really understood my game when I was sitting back home. When I started practising, during my first five to seven balls, I wanted to take a little bit of time and hit a good shot either through the left or right of cover or with a straight bat. It gave me a lot of confidence, and once my eye was set, I knew I could play all the shots. That’s what I thought I would follow in all five T20s. If it didn’t work, we would still stick to that. But it came out really well, so I’m very happy,” said Suryakumar.
Clarity, confidence and a captain reborn
Irrespective of everything he went through, the Indian captain never let his belief waver and always knew he was just one good innings away from bouncing back strongly.
“It feels really good. It has been a long year and a long wait for moments like this. I was always dreaming about when this time would come. As you mentioned earlier, when SKY is here, there is no fear. I have simply kept doing the same things I was doing over the last year and continued to follow my routines. I always knew that I was not out of form, but just out of runs,” said Suryakumar Yadav at the post-match presentation.
“For a year, it felt like the sky was not blue, but that is sport and it is part of life. I took it in my stride, went back to the drawing board and thought about what was going wrong. That is a sportsperson’s life. I have seen many careers, not just in cricket, go through similar phases. I knew that my time would definitely come if I kept following all those small things consistently,” he added.
With the World Cup just a week away, Suryakumar Yadav’s resurgence could not have come at a better time. Beyond the runs and strike rates, it is the clarity in his approach that stands out. The fearless innovator has rediscovered patience without sacrificing intent, blending composure with chaos in a way only he can. More importantly, India once again have a captain whose presence at the crease reassures the dressing room and unsettles the opposition.
As Suryakumar regains his form, India have rid themselves of the only weak link in an otherwise formidable squad that already stands miles ahead of any other team in the world. With the captain returning to his old self, capable of leaving bowlers befuddled with his breathtaking strokeplay, India appear to have one hand firmly on the trophy. The sky, after a long year of grey, has indeed turned blue again.
Imagine going into a battle with your leader having forgotten how to wield his sword, no longer capable of striking fear into the enemy. How would the rest of the army feel? How would he command his troops to overtake their rivals?
Strategy would feel fragile, belief would waver, and the sense of invincibility would vanish long before the first blow was struck. That was the uneasy feeling surrounding India as they edged closer to the T20 World Cup 2026, with their captain Suryakumar Yadav looking like a pale shadow of himself and enduring the leanest phase of his international career.
Even though India were unbeaten since their T20 World Cup triumph, they needed their captain to be firing on all cylinders to stamp their authority as favourites to lift the trophy on home soil.
However, it looked like a dream far too far-fetched, as Suryakumar continued to fail series after series, often returning to the pavilion with a wry smile on his face, almost laughing at his destiny.
It seemed as if he had used all his luck when he helped India snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a stunning boundary catch during the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados, as what followed over the next 18 months was sheer misfortune.
From the end of the T20 World Cup 2024 until December 2025, Suryakumar had scored 448 runs from 28 innings at an average of 17.92, with just two fifties to his name. The India skipper had gone a whopping 23 innings without a half-century, with the clamour around his place in the team growing louder with every failure.
Surya shines against Kiwis
As India headed into the World Cup, the pressure on the skipper was immense, with many even questioning his place as the leader of the group. The belief that a struggling captain could inspire his team to a successful title defence was increasingly challenged, and the doubt pervaded the entire nation.
However, everything changed during the New Zealand series, as Suryakumar showed glimpses of his old self with a gritty knock of 32 off 22 balls in the series opener. He followed it up with a breathtaking 82* off 37 deliveries, studded with nine fours and four sixes, as he sent the ball to all corners of the ground using his trademark shots towards fine leg.
Courtesy of his knock, India chased down their joint highest target of 209 in just 15.2 overs to register an emphatic win. He followed it up with an unbeaten 57* off 26 balls as India completed another quick run chase, scoring 154 in just ten overs.
Suryakumar then finished the series with 63 off 30 balls in the final T20I in Thiruvananthapuram, which helped set up another comprehensive 46-run victory for India.
It seemed as if Suryakumar found his Midas touch as he was adjudged Player of the Series for finishing as the highest run-scorer of the rubber, amassing 242 runs from five innings at an average of 80.66 and a strike rate of 196.74, with three fifties to his name.
A lot changed for Suryakumar Yadav from the end of the South Africa series in December 2025 to the beginning of the New Zealand series in January 2026. But the drastic transformation the India captain was able to bring about within a month left many marvelling at his work ethic.
Reflecting on his comeback journey, Suryakumar revealed that he took a short break from practice and analysed his game from scratch.
How Suryakumar scripted his comeback?
“When I got that break after the South Africa series, I went back home. I packed my kit bag and kept it in the room. I didn’t do anything for nine or ten days, and when the new year started, I began practising again. I thought, what went wrong in the last year? What was I missing? When I was batting in 2021, 2022 and 2023, my first five or ten balls were at a strike rate of around 200 to 250,” said Suryakumar in an interview with Star Sports.
He revealed how he conditioned himself to bide his time at the crease, backing his ability to accelerate later with his wide range of strokes.
“Then I thought, let’s start taking a little bit of time for the first five to seven balls, get my eye in, and then later on, if I play the next 10 to 15 balls, the strike rate doubles. So I played a lot of match simulations, practised with friends who have known me for the last 10 to 15 years, and when I came into the series and started in Nagpur, I kept feeling good. I took some time. And slowly, slowly, we see this other Surya,” he added.
Having built a reputation for possessing some of the most mind-boggling shots known to the game, Suryakumar also revealed that he shifted his focus towards playing more conventional shots early in his innings, using a straight bat to build confidence.
“Absolutely. The thing is, I really understood my game when I was sitting back home. When I started practising, during my first five to seven balls, I wanted to take a little bit of time and hit a good shot either through the left or right of cover or with a straight bat. It gave me a lot of confidence, and once my eye was set, I knew I could play all the shots. That’s what I thought I would follow in all five T20s. If it didn’t work, we would still stick to that. But it came out really well, so I’m very happy,” said Suryakumar.
Clarity, confidence and a captain reborn
Irrespective of everything he went through, the Indian captain never let his belief waver and always knew he was just one good innings away from bouncing back strongly.
“It feels really good. It has been a long year and a long wait for moments like this. I was always dreaming about when this time would come. As you mentioned earlier, when SKY is here, there is no fear. I have simply kept doing the same things I was doing over the last year and continued to follow my routines. I always knew that I was not out of form, but just out of runs,” said Suryakumar Yadav at the post-match presentation.
“For a year, it felt like the sky was not blue, but that is sport and it is part of life. I took it in my stride, went back to the drawing board and thought about what was going wrong. That is a sportsperson’s life. I have seen many careers, not just in cricket, go through similar phases. I knew that my time would definitely come if I kept following all those small things consistently,” he added.
With the World Cup just a week away, Suryakumar Yadav’s resurgence could not have come at a better time. Beyond the runs and strike rates, it is the clarity in his approach that stands out. The fearless innovator has rediscovered patience without sacrificing intent, blending composure with chaos in a way only he can. More importantly, India once again have a captain whose presence at the crease reassures the dressing room and unsettles the opposition.
As Suryakumar regains his form, India have rid themselves of the only weak link in an otherwise formidable squad that already stands miles ahead of any other team in the world. With the captain returning to his old self, capable of leaving bowlers befuddled with his breathtaking strokeplay, India appear to have one hand firmly on the trophy. The sky, after a long year of grey, has indeed turned blue again.