Ahmedabad, March 8 Suryakumar Yadav appeared particularly cheerful after Tilak Varma successfully caught a ball hit by Jacob Duffy, a far cry from the elation the Indian team might have felt after winning the T20 World Cup, achieving a 96-run victory over New Zealand in their home ground on Sunday.
However, Suryakumar remained his usual self – calm and composed, regardless of the outcome. His leadership was a testament to his ability to guide the team effectively, despite facing criticism for his batting performance.
Before the World Cup, everyone wanted to be in Suryakumar's shoes.
Until the bilateral series against New Zealand, Suryakumar struggled to score consistently. His last significant score was back in 2024.
To be precise, he had only scored 100 runs in 11 innings during that period.
Even when his form dipped, Suryakumar remained optimistic, saying that he was just short of runs, not out of form.
It's challenging for outsiders to understand this difference, but Suryakumar has always been a self-reliant leader, following his own strategies.
Eventually, he shone, scoring three half-centuries in five T20Is against the Kiwis.
While this was a great achievement, leading the team to victory in the home World Cup, where fans expect nothing less than a trophy, presented a different challenge.
Only one Indian captain had previously won a World Cup at home – MS Dhoni, who led the team to victory in the 2011 50-over World Cup.
Even legendary players like Kapil Dev (1986) and Rohit Sharma (2023) had failed to achieve this on home soil.
History might have been against Suryakumar, but he was never a man easily discouraged.
He also faced the added pressure of succeeding Rohit Sharma, who had achieved success in the T20I jersey in Barbados in 2024.
Therefore, Suryakumar was expected to deliver another trophy. And at 35, this was practically his last chance to achieve this.
Whether he liked it or not, comparisons with Rohit would always be made.
However, he found a way to handle this – by focusing on his own performance.
This was evident in his press conferences during the tournament.
Suryakumar was asked about bringing Abhishek Sharma back into the eleven after he was unwell ahead of the Super Eight match against Pakistan in Colombo.
This was a crucial question, but Suryakumar chose to respond with humor: "If you (reporters) want him, we will play him."
He adopted a similar approach when questioned about Kuldeep Yadav and Sanju Samson, deflecting the queries with a smile and witty answers.
While his replies seemed annoying to some, it was clear that Suryakumar did not want to give away too much information, which could lead to speculation before the game.
Even within the team, Suryakumar did not adopt the "Surya Dada" role, but left it to the individuals to take their own decisions.
"I started to relate to this team after 5-6 months (of captaincy). After that, I understood that there is no point in being a big brother or a father. You have to leave them.
"They dictate their own terms. So, I have seen that when they get freedom, they become a different character on the ground," Suryakumar had said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the final.
This was a different approach from Rohit – his predecessor. The Mumbai-born player was an elder brother to the team members, and his on-mike scolding and chiding of them had a separate fan base.
However, one wouldn't get those "garden mein ghoomnewale" remarks from Suryakumar, whose frustration and elation were restricted to a mere expression.
Suryakumar had a reason for this.
"Shoes are mine, I only follow his footsteps. I got to learn a lot of things from him when I was playing under him. So, I also followed the same strategy, same fundamentals.
"I played a lot of cricket with Rohit. I know how he worked. So, I tried to implement the same things with a few thoughts of mine," he offered.
So, now to that often-asked question. Where will Suryakumar, who now plays just T20s, be placed in the pantheon of Indian cricketers?
There certainly are more fancied names, who left a far deeper impact on Indian cricket.
But one may not find a cricketer who gave everyone such joy and remained a topic of discussion while operating from such a small space – a T20 specialist.
In that context, he has been as unique as his batting, clever and calculative.
And he will walk away, whenever that moment comes, content in the knowledge that he will be mentioned in the same breath as MS Dhoni, Rohit and Kapil Dev – the men who brought the World Cup to India's showcase.
It's an elite club to have a membership for a common man's captain.
