"I always wanted to get an opportunity" - Team India star regrets not playing under MS Dhoni's captaincy ahead of AUS vs IND 2025 series

Team India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav opened up about not availing an opportunity to play alongside legendary wicket-keeper MS Dhoni over the course of his career. The paths of the two iconic never overlapped either across international cricket or the Indian Premier League (IPL).

By the time Suryakumar Yadav made his debut for the national team, the former captain had already retired from international cricket. As far as the IPL is concerned, they have been on opposing sides, with Dhoni representing the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Rising Pune Supergiant, while Suryakumar has played for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Mumbai Indians (MI).

The only time the duo have been on the same side in any capacity was when MS Dhoni was the Men in Blue's mentor for the 2021 T20 World Cup, where Suryakumar Yadav was a squad member as well.

"Firstly, I always wanted to get an opportunity when he was the captain of India. But I never got it. I saw him behind the stumps whenever I played against him. He has been very cool. One thing that I have learned from him when I played against him is to stay relaxed in all pressure situations, he looks around the game, sees around what is happening and then takes a call," Suryakumar said during JITO Connect 2025 (via ANI).

The duo recently faced each other during the 2025 IPL season, when the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) faced the Mumbai Indians (MI) twice during the league stage.

"He is someone who gets everyone comfortable around them" - Suryakumar Yadav on former India captain Rohit Sharma

Suryakumar Yadav also spoke about Rohit Sharma, whose international captaincy career recently came to a close. Following the appointment of Shubman Gill as the new ODI captain, the Hitman's glorious captaincy career comes to a close, with the 2025 Champions Trophy triumph being his final contribution.

The T20I skipper revealed how he took inspiration from him to be a better captain, especially by the way he maintains a positive team atmosphere.

"Then Rohit bhai, under whom I played a lot of cricket for the IPL franchise and India. He is someone who gets everyone comfortable around them, an inspiration to all youngsters. His door was open 24/7 for everyone. That's a different quality which I learnt from him and also from the other captains," Suryakumar Yadav said.

Suryakumar Yadav, on the back of the recent Asia Cup 2025 success in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be next seen leading the team in the five-match T20I series against Australia in the coming weeks. The series will kick-start on October 29 at the Manuka Oval following the culmination of the three-match ODI series.