Home
India’s T20 World Cup 2026-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav is set for his return to competitive cricket. Suryakumar is set to lead Mumbai in the upcoming white-ball tournaments in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2026 and Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2026-27.
ADVERTISEMENT
Suryakumar will be seen in action when Mumbai begin their SMAT 2026 campaign against Hyderabad in an Elite Group D clash on November 14.
As per a report by TOI, the Mumbai senior selection committee led by Rajesh Pawar has picked Suryakumar to lead Mumbai again. The report further reveals that a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) source has revealed that the squad will be announced in the next few days. The squad will assemble and leave for Kolkata on November 11.
ALSO READ: 'Not many holes in that man's game': Duffy after being annoyed by RCB teammate Kohli's knock
Last month, Suryakumar had made himself available for Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy 2026-27 opener. However, he faced a snub from selectors for lack of game time in red-ball cricket of late.
“He is obviously a big-match player and a proven performer for Mumbai. We just want him to get into rhythm by playing a few red-ball matches. Surya hasn’t played a red-ball match for the last 18 months, so we want him to have a few games under his belt and then he can get into the team,” Pawar said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
In the meantime, he has been playing for MIC Cricket Club in the MCA President’s Cup. After IPL 2026, the 36-year-old had also played in Mumbai’s T20 League. During the state T20 tournament, India’s T20I squad for the UK tour was picked, and Suryakumar was sacked from captaincy. He lost his place in the T20I squad due to diminishing returns with the bat.
Suryakumar has not given up on making a comeback to T20Is. He will walk out to bat in the white-ball domestic tournaments with a point to prove.
ALSO READ: Rayudu explains why he doesn't want Hardik captaining KKR, sees 2 franchises as perfect fits
Will Suryakumar get retained or traded for IPL 2027?
As per a report by Cricbuzz, Mumbai Indians (MI) have dismissed speculations of Suryakumar being traded. The unorthodox batter will not be released either and will continue to don the blue and gold jersey in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2027. Suryakumar was not at his best in IPL 2026. But he won't be named captain of the MI side.
He managed to score 270 runs from three innings, averaging 20.76. His strike rate of 147.54 was certainly a dip, but not that big of an issue. He managed to score just two half-centuries in the season.
Suryakumar's SMAT and VHT record
Suryakumar has played 79 Vijay Hazare Trophy matches and scored 2,204 runs from 69 innings, averaging 38. His strike rate is an impressive 103.23. He has three tons and 13 fifties in the competition.
In SMAT history, he is Mumbai's fourth-highest run-scorer after Aditya Tare, Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer. The 36-year-old has 1,717 runs from 68 innings, averaging just over 33. His SMAT strike rate is 145.38. He is yet to score a century in his SMAT career but has nine half-centuries. He came close to a ton in 2019 with an unbeaten 94 against Karnataka.
Suryakumar to join Ro-Ko's 10,000 T20 runs club
In the SMAT, Suryakumar will have a chance of becoming the third-highest run-scorer and also the third batter to complete 10,000 runs in the T20 format. Suryakumar needs just 69 more runs to go past former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan who has 9,797 runs.
Indian batters with more than 10,000 T20 runs are Virat Kohli (14,218 runs) and Rohit Sharma (12,531 runs). So far, Suryakumar has 9,729 runs from 347 innings, averaging 34.50. His T20 strike rate is 152.58. He has six tons and 65 fifties in the format.
ADVERTISEMENT
