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New Delhi: India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has worn many hats in his career, be it late bloomer, innovator or leader but there is one experience even which he admits slipped through his fingers, plying under MS Dhoni.
The 35-year-old, who made his international debut under Virat Kohli in 2021, said he always admired Dhoni's calmness and awareness of the game. “I always wanted to get an opportunity when he was the captain of India. But I never got it,” Suryakumar said at the JITO Connect 2025 event. “Whenever I played against him, I saw how composed he was. One thing I learned from him was to stay relaxed in all pressure situations. He always observed everything around him before making a call.”
For Suryakumar Yadav, Dhoni represented the kind of leadership that comes naturally from being calm under pressure, sharp in observation and decisive in execution. Though they never shared a dressing room for India, Suryakumar Yadav said he often tried to study Dhoni during IPL matches. treating every encounter as a lesson.
When his long-awaited India debut finally came in 2021, it was under the aggressive and high-energy leadership of Virat Kohli. And that, Suryakumar said, shaped him in an entirely different way. “Virat bhai was a very hard taskmaster. He pushed your limits and wanted the best out of everyone. He was full of energy on and off the field,” Suryakumar said, reflecting on the early days of his international career.
Sky had made his domestic debut for Mumbai in 2010 but had to wait over a decade to wear the India colours. His journey, marked by patience and reinvention, made him one of the most consistent T20 performers in the world and eventually led to his appointment as India’s T20I skipper in 2024.
If Kohli's leadership was about intensity, Rohit Sharma's wad about connection. Suryakumar, who has played under Rohit in both the IPL and for India, praised his ability to create a comfortable environment for every player. “Rohit bhai gets everyone comfortable around him. He’s an inspiration to all youngsters. His door was always open 24/7 for everyone. That’s something special about him,” Suryakumar said.
It's that mix of influence that seems to have shaped Suryakumar's own approach to captaincy. For someone who waited years to get his chance, he has learned to take pieces from every leader he has played under. And while he never got to wear India’s blue under Dhoni, it’s clear that ‘Captain Cool’ still left the mark on Surya.
