T20 World Cup 2026: ‘We don’t appreciate his record enough as a captain’ – Irfan Pathan hails Suryakumar Yadav for stellar leadership

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has praised India’s current T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav for his outstanding yet underrated record as the leader of the side. The Mumbai cricketer took over the reins after Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the format after the T20 World Cup win in 2024. 

The 35-year-old first captained the Men in Blue against Australia in late 2023 and has been full-time captain for roughly a year and a half now. He has captained the Indian team in 43 matches, with a staggering 74.41 per cent success rate, only behind Rohit.

Irfan was surprised with how only a few people talk regarding Suryakumar’s record and performances as the Indian captain, despite being one of the most successful captains in world cricket. Appreciating the Indian skipper’s calm nature, Pathan showered praises, asking the fans and public to take a note of the former’s skills. 

“When you play at home, there is a lot of outside noise, that pressure to perform comes with it. Surya’s demeanor is quite relaxed, and the way he manages the side and talks to his players, it is clear that he is a good captain. We don’t appreciate his record enough as a captain. If your win percentage is 80-85 percent, no one else has it, and if you win the World Cup on top of that, then everyone has to talk about him as a captain,” Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

“Suppose if Bumrah has a bad day, concedes over 50 runs in an important match in the World Cup, how Suryakumar Yadav pulls things back from there, I want to see that. Also, if the other bowlers struggle, what Plan B will Suryakumar Yadav bring on the field, I want to see that as well,” he added.

Suryakumar is currently the third most successful Indian captain in T20Is, only behind MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. 

Now SKY is back in form: Pathan

In the same video, the Baroda-born credited Suryakumar for India’s T20I batting revolution, stating that before the arrival of Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Ishan Kishan, it was the Indian captain who started a new ultra-aggressive batting approach.

“Now you have all these ultra-aggressive players, but before that, it was Surya who was the No.1 ranked batter. He used to play at a strike rate of 160 with a brilliant average. He disappeared in 2025, but now he is back,” Irfan Pathan said.

In the recently concluded series against New Zealand, the right-hander was named player of the series for his outstanding performance throughout the series. And it was a big bonus for the Men in Blue ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.