Indian T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, who was injured in July with a sports hernia, returned to the BCCI Centre of Excellence last week for his first net session. The 34-year-old flew to Germany to have surgery. Surya’s workload will be monitored, and it will be increased gradually due to the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, which starts on September 9.
According to ESPNcricinfo, initially, his return was planned, given the series against Bangladesh, which was scheduled for late August 2025, but has been postponed to next year. This is Suryakumar’s third surgery in the last three years. After an ankle surgery in 2023, the stylish Indian middle-order batter had previously undergone the same sports hernia surgery back in 2024.
Purple patch
Suryakumar had a tremendous season with the bat for Mumbai Indians. He became only the second batter after great Sachin Tendulkar to score over 600 runs for MI in a season. The ‘360-degree’ batter ended the season with 717 runs, only second to Orange Cap holder Sai Sudharsan, who had scored 759. His prolific season with the bat helped Mumbai Indians reach the knockouts and beat Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator before losing the second Qualifier against Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings. Suryakumar was adjudged the Player of the Series (Most Valuable Player) for IPL 2025.
He then led Triumph Knights Mumbai North East in the T20 Mumbai League and scored 122 in the five innings. However, his team could only win one out of five league matches and finished sixth in the points table, featuring a total of eight teams.
India’s next T20 International assignment will be the Bangladesh tour in August, later this year. India will travel to Bangladesh to play three One-Day Internationals and as many T20Is.
India to play Pakistan
BCCI will host the Asia Cup, to be played in T20 format, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from September 9 to 28. The marquee match between India and Pakistan — both placed in Group A — will be played on September 14.
This will be the first match between India and Pakistan after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 civilians were killed. Subsequently, Operation Sindoor was conducted by the Indian armed forces in Pakistan against terror emanating from that country.
