"Never thought that I should become an IPL captain” - Mumbai Indians star breaks silence on being ignored for leadership role by franchise

Mumbai Indians (MI) star cricketer Suryakumar Yadav has broken his silence on not being given the opportunity to lead his IPL franchise. Ahead of the 2024 season, Mumbai’s most successful captain Rohit Sharma was replaced, with the team bringing in Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans (GT) and naming him as the new leader.

During that period, many believed that Suryakumar Yadav should have been named the next MI captain. The 35-year-old recently appeared in an interview with News24, released on their YouTube channel on Tuesday, October 14. When asked if he had considered captaining another franchise, the right-handed batter responded:

“No, no, I will absolutely not think about it. No, because even when I was doing well while playing in the IPL, I never thought that I should become an IPL captain. Then, when I became the captain of India’s T20 team, I still didn’t think that way, because it’s not written anywhere that if someone is India’s T20 captain or leading the national team, then he must also lead in the IPL.”

“Now look, when I go to play state cricket, if someone is already leading there, for example, last year when I went, at that time Ajinkya Rahane was leading in four-day matches and Shreyas was leading in T20s, and whenever I was available, I played in both formats. But I never said there, hey brother, I’m the India captain, so I should captain here too. It’s not written anywhere that if you’re India’s captain, you must captain your state team or your IPL team. If you’re playing under someone else, there’s no problem with that, you still learn a lot there,” he added.

In IPL 2025, Mumbai Indians’ campaign ended with a defeat to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2, as the franchise continued to chase their first title since 2020.

---

“I thought a little about it” - Suryakumar Yadav speaks about leading another IPL team

During the same conversation, Suryakumar Yadav revealed that he had received offers from franchises to become their captain. The 35-year-old added that he gave the opportunity some thought but ultimately decided not to pursue it. Explaining his reasons, Suryakumar shared:

“I mean, three or four teams had asked me what my plan was. They just asked, what is your plan? That’s all. I said I don’t have any plans; I am going to play here. Then their next question was that they were thinking, if you come here, can you lead? So I thought a little about it, because obviously, if someone wants to give you responsibility, then if I go there, lead, and create a legacy, that would be a different thing.”

“Then I came home, and we thought a lot about it. Then I said, now that I am 34 years old, if I were 27 or 28, and planning to play for 8 to 10 more years, then it would make sense to move, to play for a franchise for 8 or 9 years, win three or four titles, and create a legacy. For example, Gautam Bhai came to KKR in 2011, played there until 2017 or 2018, 7 to 8 years, and won two trophies. Rohit Bhai came in 2011 and is still playing, but he led and won five trophies by 2023. Mahi Bhai played for so many years and won five trophies. All of them became captains at a young age,” he added.

Suryakumar Yadav continued:

“So I thought, if I go at 34, lead for 3 or 4 years, and maybe win two trophies, that’s good. But a legacy is defined when you play for a long time, win many trophies, and then play a few more years of franchise cricket. If you’ve already played 100 games there, and then play another 60-70 games and win trophies, that feels much better to me. After that, the family will start, children and all. I’ll be staying in Bombay, so it’s close to home. That is also very important, actually.”

Suryakumar Yadav has played 166 IPL matches, scoring 4,311 runs at an average of 35.04 and a strike rate of 148.65, including 29 half-centuries and two centuries to his name.