Suryakumar Yadav has mentioned that winning the gold at Los Angeles Olympics, when cricket makes a return to the Games, will be the team’s next goal.
But will the 35-year-old be able to make it to the Olympics two years later? No one is willing to speak on this in the trail of India’s World Cup triumph, but there are serious questions being raised about his continuing in the hot seat.
“Obviously, it has been a wonderful journey in the last one month. Though it didn’t start the way we wanted it to start, but then it’s part of the sport,” Surya said at his post-final media conference. “Throughout the journey, till today, it has been very special and collectively as a team what we have achieved... The next goal is the Olympic gold.”
The Ajit Agarkar-led committee has been harsh on any player who has been out of form and how they deal with Surya’s inconsistency will be a matter of huge interest. Except for an unbeaten 84 against the USA in the opener at the Wankhede, there has hardly been any significant contribution from the captain during their campaign.
Surya has perhaps been the most underrated player to have led the team, but his success shows his ability to handle such a high-profile task. He will now be spoken of in the same breath as a Kapil Dev, Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Rohit Sharma.
Surya’s captaincy mantra has been inspired by Rohit and it has excelled on the back of sharing an excellent rapport with his teammates.
“When someone is not doing well, you try and spend time with him, take him out for dinner, talk to him, because those are the players who at the right time will do something special for you, like how Abhishek did (in the final) and Sanju (Samson) did in the last three games. So all these things really matter to me.”
India play their next T20I series in England in June-July. If the selectors want to begin their preparations for 2028, it has to start at the earliest. But will Surya continue in
his role?