India National Cricket Team T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has made a major statement, openly saying that he could have been one of the top contenders to take over the ODI captaincy from Rohit Sharma.
Suryakumar Yadav reckoned that he could have become the proper white-ball captain of India – both ODIs and T20Is – had he performed well in 50-over cricket at the international level.
ODI captaincy bhi mil sakti thi – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as the T20I captain of India after Rohit Sharma retired from the format post-T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in the Caribbean.
It came as a massive surprise because Hardik Pandya was the deputy of Rohit Sharma, and out of nowhere, Suryakumar was handed captaincy. At that time, it was mentioned that Pandya’s fitness issues went against him, and Suryakumar Yadav’s impressive performances helped him get the T20I leadership.
Notably, Suryakumar’s T20I peak is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, and he was at the No.1 position in the ICC Men’s T20I Batting Rankings for a long time.
However, he was unable to replicate his T20I success in ODI cricket. Suryakumar received great backing from the team management and played 37 ODIs, but scored just 773 at an average of 25.76 and a strike rate of 105.02.
In a recent podcast, Suryakumar said that he could have become the India ODI skipper ahead of Shubman Gill had he performed better in the format.
“Ab main sochta hun ki agar maine ODI format mein acha kiya hota, jaise abhi T20I captaincy chal rahi hai, ODI captaincy bhi mil sakti thi. [Now I think that if I had done well in the ODI format, just like how T20I captaincy is going now, I could have got the ODI captaincy as well],” he said as quoted by TOI.
Pehle nahi sochta tha – Suryakumar Yadav
Further elaborating this point, Suryakumar Yadav said that he didn’t think about it earlier, but now he does and is hoping to give it all to earn an ODI recall and deliver good performances.
“Abhi soch raha hun main. Pehle nahi sochta tha. Kyunki format 30 overs aur thoda lamba hai. Ball ka colour bhi same hai. Jersey bhi almost same hai. Abhi bhi try karunga main. 100 percent harunga main.
“Dream to hai hi [I’m thinking about it now. Earlier, I didn’t think about it. Because the format is 30 overs and a bit longer. The ball colour is the same. The jersey is almost the same. Even now, I will try. I’ll give it my 100 percent. It’s always been a dream],” Suryakumar said.
Ghar pe jab rehte hain, hum yahi discuss karte hain – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav further stated that he discusses about his ODI career with his wife and they reach the same point that he could have been Rohit Sharma’s successor.
“Ghar pe jab rehte hain, hum yahi discuss karte hain. Wife ke saath main yahi baat karta hun ki agar ODI cricket mera acha gaya hota, to you never know. Jab Rohit bhai ODI captaincy se retire honge, uske baad kaun lead karega? Agar aap acha kar rahe ho, to you can be a good contender. But abhi bhi opportunity nahi gayi hai ODI cricket ki.
“[When we are at home, we discuss this a lot. I talk to my wife about it, saying that if I had done well in ODI cricket, you never know. When Rohit bhai retires from ODI captaincy, who will lead then? If you are performing well, you can be a good contender. But even now, the opportunity in ODI cricket hasn’t come yet],” he added.