Suryakumar Yadav Explains What Sets Gautam Gambhir Apart As India Gear Up For T20 World Cup
India captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir will be in focus as T20 World Cup starts
By the time Suryakumar Yadav walked into the captain's press conference ahead of India's T20 World Cup campaign, the big questions were already waiting: Gautam Gambhir's influence on the side, the mood inside the dressing room, and how a captain manages abundance in an era where India's bench could comfortably form another international team. Surya didn't dress it up. "The dressing room is the same," he said with a smile. "Only the box has changed."
It was his way of explaining Gambhir's arrival - a change in leadership, not in identity. But beneath the simplicity lay something deeper. Over the past year, Surya feels Gambhir has quietly reshaped the team's priorities.
"It's been a wonderful journey since he took over," Surya said. "The main thing is that he has created an atmosphere in the dressing room. It's a team game. Putting personal milestones aside, the team's goal is more important."
That philosophy, Surya explained, now underpins everything India does. He pointed to a recent example in Trivandrum. Ishan Kishan was stranded in the 90s before launching a six to bring up his hundred. For Surya, the moment wasn't about another individual landmark.
"That is one thing we are trying to do in the dressing room," he said. "Keeping personal milestones away and focusing on what the team's goal is - and then working towards it. Everything comes from that."
Just as important, he believes, is the freedom players are being given.
"The two people who are playing in the middle are the best people to take that call," Surya said. "They have given us that freedom."
It has created a lighter, more connected environment - team dinners, movie nights, and small off-field moments that Surya feels add up when the pressure peaks.
"All these small things help a lot in a team atmosphere," he said. "That's what we are trying to do."
India's results over the current World Cup cycle have inevitably drawn comparisons with Ricky Ponting's dominant Australian side of 2007 - a statistic that reflects both consistency and depth. But for Surya, success brings its own complications.
Asked what's harder - picking the XI or dropping players - he didn't hesitate.
"It's a very good headache to have," he said. "With such wonderful people with amazing skill in the dressing room, everyone brings something different to the table. It's very difficult to pick 11."
The human side of captaincy, though, is harder to quantify.
"It does get difficult when I speak to them, when I face them on the ground, when I go out for dinners with them," Surya admitted. "I'm best friends with almost everyone."
Yet leadership demands detachment. "At the end of the day, you have to keep your team ahead, pick the best 11, and think about how we are going to play the game."
As India gear up for another T20 World Cup, Surya's words offer a glimpse into a side trying to balance freedom with discipline, friendship with selection calls, and talent with teamwork. The dressing room may look familiar. But under Gambhir's watch - and Surya's stewardship - its heartbeat feels very different.
India Cricket Team
Gautam Gambhir