India’s newest T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, has been embroiled in a few controversies in the past, the biggest of which was resigning as his state team Mumbai’s captain in 2015.
The 33-year-old takes over from Rohit Sharma in the format after his retirement following India’s T20 World Cup win. Surya has led in 24 T20 games, winning 16 of those. He has also captained in the age-group levels and the tour games, and was entrusted with leading the Mumbai team for the first time in 2014, when he led the team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
That year, he was also named the team’s skipper for the Ranji Trophy in the absence of Zaheer Khan and Rohit Sharma. He edged ahead of Abhishek Nayar, who he will work alongside in the Indian team, to be named Mumbai’s captain ahead of the 2014/15 Ranji Trophy season.
SKY’s captaincy tenure ends abruptly
After leading Mumbai in just six games, Surya resigned from his role citing the side’s poor performance that season. Mumbai had won only one game, against Uttar Pradesh, under him, and were placed sixth on the points table among nine teams with 11 points. His resignation came on the back of an innings defeat to Tamil Nadu. It was Mumbai’s heaviest defeat since 1951.
Surya was also reprimanded by the Mumbai Cricket Association for using abusive language on the field and in the dressing room as captain, leading to players complaining against him. There was also a public spat between him and Shardul Thakur during a Ranji game against Madhya Pradesh, potentially leading to the dressing room atmosphere deteriorating further. Shrikant Tigdi, Mumbai’s manager, had reportedly presented a report to the MCA that spoke of his disciplinary issues, all of which led to his resignation.
"Suryakumar Yadav's elevation to being appointed as the captain of the T20I team is aimed at enhancing the stability of the T20I squad that has lacked any uniformity in the last few years."
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) July 23, 2024
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Surya was replaced by Aditya Tare, who was termed a better man-manager by the MCA, for the remainder of the Ranji Trophy that year.
Barring a one-off game in 2017, Surya had to wait four-and-a-half years after the incident to be named Mumbai's skipper in any format.
Past controversies
Surya, labelled a “hot-head” in his younger days, was involved in a fist-fight with his Mumbai teammate Siddhesh Lad when he was the captain of the Under-25 team. He later broke a glass wall in the MCA’s BKC facility. He was let off by MCA’s vice-president Ravi Savant on both occasions then.
In 2017, a retweet on Twitter landed him in trouble. Surya had not been picked in the Vijay Hazare tournament due to disciplinary issues after he took a dig at the Mumbai selectors for leaving out opener Jay Bista in the Ranji Trophy. Subsequently, he was not picked in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. A retweet where he questioned the decision of the selectors to not pick him for the tournament further landed him in soup. He was asked to give an explanation to the MCA and after tendering an unconditional apology, he was picked again.
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