Suryakumar Yadav to captain in IPL 2025? India skipper deals with Gwalior 'googly'

IND vs BAN: Suryakumar Yadav opened on the chances of leading a team in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 34-year-old spoke about captaincy before the opening T20I against Bangladesh in Gwalior.

In Short

• Suryakumar Yadav will lead India in the Bangladesh T20Is
• Suryakumar has captained India in T20Is before
• The first T20I will take place on Sunday in Gwalior

Suryakumar Yadav opened up on the prospects of captaining in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Having played in the IPL since the 2012 edition, the now 34-year-old hasn’t got a chance to lead the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). But back in 2015, he was the vice-captain of the Knight Riders.

Suryakumar is now set to lead India in their upcoming three-match T20I series against Najmul Hossain Shanto’s Bangladesh. Before series opener on Sunday in Gwalior, Suryakumar was asked if he would want to don the captain’s hat. In reply, he had a cheeky response in store.

“Aapne googly daal diya aapne (laughs) (You put me in a spot with a wrong 'un),” Suryakumar told the reporters.

‘Have learnt from other captains’

Suryakumar captained India for the first time back in 2023 against Australia in the five-match T20I series. Thereafter, he also led the Men in Blue in the T20Is on South African soil. Earlier this year, he also took charge of the national team on the tour of Sri Lanka after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from the shorter format.

“Really enjoying this new role (as India captain). When I was playing under Rohit bhai’s captaincy in MI, I used to give my inputs whatever I felt at that time,” Suryakumar said.

"For India also feeling good. I captained against Sri Lanka previously against Australia and South Africa also. I have learnt from other captains on how to take the team forward. Aage dekhte hain. Chalte rahta hain. Baaki aapko pata toh chal hee jayega ((Let's see how it goes. Rest you will know in due course of time),” that was Surya’s witty response to the IPL leadership question,” Suryakumar added.

In 10 T20Is as Indian captain, Suryakumar scored 392 runs at an average of 39.20 with a top score of 100 against the Proteas at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.