Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
For nearly two months, Suryakumar Yadav did not know what came next. The India batter spent 40-50 days at home after being removed as T20I captain and dropped from the squad, grappling with the possibility that his India career had suddenly taken an unexpected turn. He was shocked, he admitted, and even questioned whether he should continue playing.
“Then for 40 or 50 days I was sitting at home doing nothing, completely shocked, thinking, ‘What should I do now? Should I play, should I not play, what should be done next?’ A lot was going through my mind,” Suryakumar said in an interview with former India cricketer Aakash Chopra.
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It was during that difficult period that his wife, Devisha Shetty, reminded him why he had picked up a cricket bat in the first place.
“One day my wife said, ‘Just think about why you started playing this game 20 years ago when you were a 13- or 15-year-old… Because you were mad for this game; you had passion.’ I said, ‘Yes, definitely true.’ She said, ‘Then bring that passion back again.’”
The timing of the setback was particularly difficult to process. Suryakumar had led India through a hugely successful period in T20I cricket, with the team winning the 2025 Asia Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup while remaining unbeaten in bilateral T20I series under his leadership. Yet he had expected to remain at the helm for longer.
However, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee decided to hand over the captain’s armband to Shreyas Iyer, dropping Suryakumar altogether from the T20I squad. The 35-year-old has not played since leading India to the T20 World Cup triumph in March.
“I said I have the passion to play cricket, but what is the road forward? You can’t see anything ahead; it’s all foggy, nothing makes sense,” he said.
His wife, however, asked him to look back rather than forward. She reminded him of what he had achieved over the previous five years: five World Cups, two ICC T20 Player of the Year awards, the No. 1 T20I ranking and the iconic catch in the 2024 T20 World Cup final before his crowning moment as captain in 2026.
“People play for 10 years, 15 years, 20 or 25 years, and they don’t get to achieve what you have achieved in the last five years,” she told him.
THE DRIVE COMES BACK
It still took time for the words to sink in. Suryakumar said his wife encouraged him to return to the gym, play tennis-ball and rubber-ball cricket and spend time with friends. Gradually, the drive returned.
“Two or three weeks back, that drive started. Looking at my daughter every day, it hit me that now I have to play for her.”
Suryakumar is now training again and batting in full flow. He is also clear about where he wants his remaining years to be spent: T20 cricket. The Mumbai Indians batter will be looking at the upcoming white-ball domestic season to remind the selectors of his worth.
“I am 35 right now; after 38 or 39 you can relax, but whatever 3 or 4 years are left, I want to play with the exact same passion that I have played with until today,” he said.
He does not know what the road ahead holds. But after weeks of uncertainty, Suryakumar says he has found something he feared he had lost.
“That love is back, that drive is back, that focus, discipline, everything is back again, and I am on track.”
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
