How birth of daughter and conversation with wife reignited Surya's cricket aspirations

How birth of daughter and conversation with wife reignited Surya's cricket aspirations

It is not often that a captain who wins the World Cup gets dropped, but in a bizarre turn of events, Suryakumar Yadav was dropped after winning the 2026 T20 World Cup from the Indian side. The Mumbaikar’s form was dipping before the tournament, and even in the showpiece event found it hard to make an impactful contribution apart from the side’s opening game against the USA. Speaking about life after getting dropped, Surya did acknowledge it was difficult to cope with.

“Post the T20 World Cup win it has been a little difficult. I don’t want to run away from that fact. If you are not honest with yourself, it is very difficult to lead a happy life,” Suryakumar said during a T20 Mumbai League Celebrating the Champions event.

The 36-year-old also acknowledged his change in perspective after the birth of his daughter.

“To be very honest, it (not being part of the team) has been very difficult. But at the same time, during the IPL, I was blessed with a baby girl in May. The focus shifted completely towards her. The last few months, since she was born, have been very beautiful,” he said.

After that, Surya decided to work back towards cricket and getting back into the scheme of things.

“The first two months, though, were very difficult. But then I thought, why not go back to thinking about how I was before?

“How I started my cricket… all I used to think about was playing age-group cricket for Mumbai and eventually representing Mumbai in First-Class cricket,” he said.

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Surya would also reveal that he had a conversation with his wife Devisha Shetty, about his future.

“I sat down and thought about all these things and started chatting with my wife. She said the same thing — I needed to bring back the love and passion for the game that I had when I was a 15-year-old kid, who wanted to represent Mumbai in Under-15 cricket,” Suryakumar said.

“So, that’s what I started thinking about, and I am now following the same things I did 10-15 years ago. I am training again, following the same passion and the same love for the game.

“Everything is back to normal now. When you start thinking about it and focus on playing this sport, you want to do well for your team and your family. Things change completely, and that’s what I am doing right now.

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“The main goal is what I used to think about before, win games for Mumbai and win the championship for Mumbai,” he added.

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