The entire cricket world is praising former India captain Rohit Sharma for laying the foundation stone in 2024, due to which the team could eventually win the 2026 T20 World Cup trophy. Team India created history by winning back-to-back trophies.
In a recent interview, the current captain of the T20I team revealed how he changed the team’s approach over the years by replacing the Rahul Dravid-Rohit Sharma ideology.
Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav brought new philosophy to the team
When the Men in Blue claimed the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma was the captain and Rahul Dravid was the head coach of the team. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Rohit retired from the format and Rahul’s tenure as head coach came to an end.
Team India entered a new era with Suryakumar Yadav as captain and Gautam Gambhir as head coach. Along with new appointments, the team also welcomes new ideas.
Gautam Gambhir said in several interviews after winning the T20 World Cup 2026 that there is no room for individual achievements in the team under his regime. Captain Suryakumar Yadav reiterated the same in the latest interview.
We will not focus on personal milestones – Suryakumar Yadav
Yadav straightaway said that he was convinced of the fact that the brand of cricket that India played in the 2024 T20 World Cup was not going to work. So, he injected his vision into the squad, which slowly spread like a virus. The new thinking was to break the superstar culture to give priority to each member of the team.
Suryakumar Yadav said in an interview with The Indian Express, “We knew that the way we played the 2024 T20 World Cup – that brand of cricket – would not work going forward. So we decided: From here on, we will not focus on individual milestones; the aim is to win games. If you have noticed, till the semi-finals none of our players were the top run-scorers or top wicket-takers.”
The captain said, “But we qualified and kept winning. Every game, every player contributed. It was very important to spread this thing like a virus in the team from the beginning. We planted this team culture 18 months ago.”
We put players in difficult situations – Suryakumar Yadav
In the same interview, he further said that earlier people used to think that the performance of the team in ICC events and bilateral series is different. The management also tried to change this thinking. They started performing with extra courage and intensity to make the team’s performance uniform.
Suryakumar Yadav further said, “Everyone thought that India plays differently in bilateral matches and differently in ICC competitions. That thinking had to change. We will play in ICC competitions in the same way as we play in bilateral matches, more boldly, more openly. We put the players in difficult situations because we knew that it is important to deal with pressure in big games.”
SKY has already set its sights on the next target, the Olympics 2028. However, the worry is that he will be 37 by then and considering the amount of talent India has, especially in T20 cricket, he might not be able to make the squad.
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