Irfan Pathan feels that India have not given enough credit to one of their most successful T20I captains. As the 2026 T20 World Cup approaches, Pathan feels that Suryakumar Yadav’s role as captain and batsman is vastly underrated, despite the incredible numbers.

Suryakumar took over as the captain of the Indian T20I team in July 2024 after the retirement of Rohit Sharma. Since then, India has appeared settled and confident under his leadership. They won 31 of 43 games to claim the 2025 Asia Cup and seal their seventh consecutive bilateral series.

Irfan Pathan feels Suryakumar Yadav deserves more praise for captaincy

What’s even more impressive is that India has not lost a single T20I series since Suryakumar took over as captain. Despite his impressive results, his captaincy was not too controversial.

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Recently, the former India all-rounder said that Suryakumar’s biggest strength as a leader is the way he looks after the bowlers and trusts them in pressure situations, which reminds him of Rohit Sharma’s style. He even called him the bowlers captain.

Revsportz quoted Irrfan Pathan as saying: “For whatever reason, we don’t celebrate captain Surya much. As India captain, his win rate is 84 per cent, which is the highest in our history. I see shades of Rohit Sharma in him in the way he takes care of the bowlers – he is the leader of the bowlers.”

Suryakumar Yadav’s tough phase finally ends ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

In terms of batting, last year was not easy for Suryakumar Yadav. In 2025, the stylish batsman went through a lengthy drought, scoring just 244 runs in 22 innings, without a 50-run game, and averaging less than 14 runs a game. However, the India skipper has now found his form with the bat.

Suryakumar has scored two consecutive fifties in five consecutive matches in the T20I series at home against New Zealand. The right-handed batsman has once again played fearless cricket and Pathan feels his return to form has come at the right time as India will defend their T20 World Cup title from February 7.

The cricket expert further mentioned, “Feeling good about himself as a batsman is very important for him and it is equally important for him to score runs heading into the World Cup. I had the feeling before the India-New Zealand series that he will run well here.”

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Mid-sequence impact is India’s biggest driver

Pathan also backed the Indian skipper to play at No. 4 as his influence in the midfield is exactly what India needs in the upcoming exhibition matches. He added, “The area he plays in is difficult for spinners to control, which is why he has a strike rate of over 160 at fourth order.”

The former India all-rounder said the strong return of players like Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Linku Singh and Ravi Bishnoi is good news, but Suryakumar Yadav’s form is India’s biggest boost ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Pathan concluded by saying, “This is the biggest positive takeaway from this series. The way Suryakumar is running is the biggest positive takeaway from the Indian team ahead of the World Cup.”