On Jan 18, after much delay, the BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy, with minimal surprises. There were a few names who missed out, and their names were considered, and there were a few, whose names were not discussed at all. Unfortunately, Team India skipper in T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav falls in the latter category.
Suryakumar Yadav Himself Responsible?
But then the 34-year-old realises that it is only his fault, that he is not in the scheme of things in the ODIs. He last played a 50-over match in 2023 World Cup final vs Australia, and isn’t the preferred choice now. In 37 ODIs, he has scored only 773 runs at an average of 25. In List A too, he hasn’t been any good — where he has scored only 3665 runs in 144 matches, at an average of 32.
At the pre-match conference of the IND vs ENG 1st T20I in Kolkata, while answering to the Champions Trophy squad, he replied, “It hurts that I haven’t done well in ODIs. That’s why I’m not in the Champions Trophy Squad. If I had done well, I would have been there.”
But then, it is widely accepted that Suryakumar Yadav is a champion player in the T20I format, a India’s success at the 2026 T20 World Cup will depend on how he performs. Though still some distance away, Surya sounded optimistic, that the team under Gautam Gambhir is headed in the right direction.
“T20 World Cup is a long way away. We are only taking one series at a time,” he was quoted as saying by RevSportz.
- Sanju Samson gets fitness clearance from BCCI CoE to keep wickets, will captain RR against PBKS
- Exclusive | Chris Gayle backs RCB to end trophy drought in IPL 2025 with CSK monkey off their backs
- RCB vs GT Match Prediction: Who will win today’s IPL 2025 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans?
India Squad for Champions Trophy
Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill (VC), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav
