Suryakumar Yadav: “Focus now on bringing back love and passion for the game”

For someone who led India to the T20 World Cup title earlier this year, the months that followed have not been easy.

Suryakumar Yadav has found himself away from the national team reckoning, a difficult phase for a cricketer who had scaled the highest peak in the shortest format.

But the Mumbai batter is not shying away from acknowledging the challenge. Nor is he looking for excuses.

“Things have been a little difficult after the T20 World Cup. I don’t want to run away from the fact. If you are not honest with yourself, it is very difficult to lead a happy life,” he said on Tuesday, during the T20 Mumbai Celebrating the Champions event.

He was blessed with a baby girl in May, during the IPL, which helped him shift his focus away from the gloom. “The last few months, since she was born, have been very beautiful,” he said.

Being out of form, the initial phase was difficult. It was then that he began looking back on his journey as the young boy who had dreamt of playing for Mumbai. A conversation with his wife helped him reconnect with the simpler things that had once driven him.

“She felt I needed to bring back the love and passion for the game that I had when I was a 15-year-old kid who wanted to represent Mumbai in the under-15 cricket team,” he said.

He has since returned to the basics, training with the same purpose and enthusiasm that marked his early years. The ambitions, too, have become refreshingly straightforward.

“The main goal is what I used to think about earlier: win games for Mumbai and win the championship for Mumbai,” he said.

That philosophy also shapes his message to the next generation. With the IPL becoming an increasingly attractive destination for young cricketers, Suryakumar believes the focus should remain on the traditional pathway — representing Mumbai and eventually India.

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“I feel the end goal, or even the first goal, should never be to think about playing in the IPL. Everyone dreams of playing for India. If you ask any kid playing on the maidans of Mumbai cricket right now, they won’t say they want to play in the IPL. They will first say, ‘I want to play for Mumbai. I want to represent Mumbai at the age-group level. I want to represent Mumbai in first-class cricket. I want to have that cap,’ which is really special,” he said.

“After that, when you do well in domestic cricket and put up terrific performances, you get recognised. That is when everything else comes into the picture. So, the first dream has to be playing for India, but you have to take it one step at a time,” he added.

His relationship with the Mumbai dressing room dates back to 2010-11, when he was a young cricketer finding his feet alongside some of the biggest names in the game.

“When I first walked into the dressing room, I had seniors like Sachin (Tendulkar) sir, Amol Muzumdar and Ajit Agarkar. There were so many players whom I used to look up to. Whenever they went out for practice, I would spend a lot of time with them, talking. Sachin sir even gave me his space in the Mumbai dressing room, where he used to sit in the right corner. It was quite a special moment, a very memorable one,” he recalled.

For Suryakumar, the Mumbai dressing room remains an important part of that journey. Having spent 16 years around the setup, he is now preparing to lead the side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, despite not being part of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy campaign in the first phase.

He is always ready to help the youngsters.

“My room is always open, 24/7. They can come in at any time, sit with me and chat. The only thing we discuss is how we can take things one step further,” Suryakumar said.

He also wants the youngsters to understand the value of growing together, learning from one another and making the most of the opportunities available.

Published on Nov 10, 2026