Mumbai, Nov 10 (PTI) Getting dropped after leading the team to a T20 World Cup triumph was tough to deal with, but former India captain Suryakumar Yadav acknowledged on Tuesday that he has now rediscovered his “love and passion” for cricket.
Surykumar’s previous appearance in India colours came in the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand on March 8, 2026, a game which India won by 96 runs.
The Mumbai batter made a first-ball duck in that match, extending a sequence of low scores, which eventually led to his ouster.
“Post the T20 World Cup win it has been a little difficult. I don't want to run away from that fact. If you are not honest with yourself, it is very difficult to lead a happy life,” Suryakumar said during a T20 Mumbai League Celebrating the Champions event here.
However, Suryakumar said the birth of his daughter earlier this year offered him a welcome distraction from the inner turmoil.
“To be very honest, it (not being part of the team) has been very difficult. But at the same time, during the IPL, I was blessed with a baby girl in May. The focus shifted completely towards her. The last few months, since she was born, have been very beautiful,” he said.
Gradually, his thinking moved towards cricket, and now he genuinely hopes to add to his 113 T20I caps.
“The first two months, though, were very difficult. But then I thought, why not go back to thinking about how I was before?
“How I started my cricket… all I used to think about was playing age-group cricket for Mumbai and eventually representing Mumbai in First-Class cricket,” he said.
Then the 36-year-old had a sit down with his wife — Devisha Shetty — to ponder over his future.
“I sat down and thought about all these things and started chatting with my wife. She said the same thing — I needed to bring back the love and passion for the game that I had when I was a 15-year-old kid, who wanted to represent Mumbai in Under-15 cricket,” Suryakumar said.
Her words brought in the change in his attitude.
“So, that's what I started thinking about, and I am now following the same things I did 10-15 years ago. I am training again, following the same passion and the same love for the game.
“Everything is back to normal now. When you start thinking about it and focus on playing this sport, you want to do well for your team and your family. Things change completely, and that's what I am doing right now.
“The main goal is what I used to think about before, win games for Mumbai and win the championship for Mumbai,” he added.
The first step in that direction is the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament where he will lead Mumbai.
But he was quick to remind the young Mumbaikars not to make getting an IPL contract their “end goal.”
“See, the end goal, or even the first goal, should never be to think about playing in the IPL. Everyone dreams of playing for India. If you ask any kid playing on the Maidans of Bombay cricket, they won't say they want to play in the IPL,” he said.
“They will first say, ‘I want to represent Mumbai at the age-group level. I want to represent Mumbai in First-Class cricket. I want to have that cap, which is really special.”
“After that, when you do well in domestic cricket and put up terrific performances, you get recognised. That is when everything else comes into the picture.
“So, the first dream has to be playing for India, but you have to take it one step at a time,” Suryakumar said.
The swashbuckling batter, however, subtly expressed his disappointment of not being considered for the first round of the Ranji Trophy.
Despite conveying his availability close to the squad selection for Mumbai’s tournament opener, Suryakumar was not picked as he had missed the entire off-season build-up to the Ranji Trophy.
“When I first walked into the dressing room in 2010-11, I had seniors like Sachin (Tendulkar) sir, Amol Muzumdar and Ajit Agarkar. There were so many players whom I used to look up to. Whenever they went out for practice, I would spend a lot of time with them, talking.
“Sachin sir even gave me his space in the Mumbai dressing room, where he used to sit in the right corner and there is a small Ganesh murti (idol). It was quite a special moment, a very memorable one.”
But he looked forward to a fruitful outing in the SMA Trophy tournament.
“Most importantly, (now) we talk about how we can grow together. That's what I have seen over the last few months and years, whenever I have been part of the Mumbai dressing room and had the opportunity to spend time with the boys.
“Though I didn't get that opportunity during this Ranji Trophy season, going forward, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, there will definitely be good times ahead,” Suryakumar said.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik said producing players for India would be the true success for the T20 Mumbai League.
“The success (of T20 Mumbai) is in Mumbai players playing for India, that is the main purpose of this tournament. IPL and everything else is a by-product,” Naik remarked.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)