Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav (Screengrab) NEW DELHI: On the eve of the T20 World Cup 2026 final against New Zealand, India captain Suryakumar Yadav gushed that he is only following in the footsteps of Rohit Sharma.Asked if he found his predecessor Rohit Sharma’s shoes too big to fill, he said: “The shoes are mine, the steps are theirs. (Sir, the shoes are mine, I’m just following in his footsteps.) He was serious about the nuggets he picked up from Rohit’s leadership.
T20 World Cup: Gautam Gambhir, Suryakumar Yadav after Team India’s win
“The way he left things, I learned a lot from him when I played under him. So I also followed the same strategy and the same fundamentals.“I played a lot of cricket with Rohit. I know how he worked. So I tried to implement the same things with some ideas of my own. And it worked really well,” he said.Suryakumar Yadav is not wrong to credit Rohit Sharma. It was Rohit who set the blueprint for India after India conceded ten wickets at the hands of England in Adelaide during the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup T20. After the match, Rohit said that this is not how his team will play. He walked the talk and made a conscious effort to bat more aggressively. This brought success to India.The aggressive brand of cricket that Rohit instilled in the DNA of the Indian white-ball team can be seen in the performances and the ICC titles that India have won.
Suryakumar Yadav of India poses for a photo with the trophy after winning the India-Sri Lanka 2026 Men’s World T20 World Cup Final between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8, 2026 in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
In hindsight, Surya is not wrong. It’s still Rohit’s team. Nine of the 15 players on the team have won a Caribbean title. It is the same core that ended India’s 11-year ICC title drought under Rohit. Surya himself flourished under Rohit, be it for India or Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. The same can be said for Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan.Then there is Sanju Samson. Midway through the tournament, when Surya was asked if the batter should be added to the top three, which was one-dimensional with Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, all southpaws, Surya laughed and said, “You mean I should play him instead of Abhishek? You mean I should make him play for Tilak?”Sanju ended up playing three winning shots on the bounce to become Player of the Tournament.
Sanju Samson of India celebrates victory after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026 Super 8 match between India and West Indies at Eden Gardens on March 1, 2026 in Kolkata, India. (Photo: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
Two years ago, Rohit spent ten minutes with Sanju Samson ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa, explaining why he would not play the final, despite initially being told he would.“I had a chance to play the final. I was told to stay ready. I was ready. But before the toss, they decided to go with the same team,” Samson told journalist Vimal Kumar during a chat.“He spent 10 minutes with a player who wasn’t playing just before the throw-in. He gave me 10 minutes before the throw-in. After that I realized that this person has different qualities. If I were him, I would think about the players who were playing or my bat. That’s what you normally think. At that moment he thought: ‘I have to explain to Sanju why I made that decision.’ In that moment he won a place in my heart that will last a lifetime.”
Suryakumar Yadav of India interacts with the crowd after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup India vs Sri Lanka 2026 final between India and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 8, 2026 in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo by Prakash Singh/Getty Images)
Surya certainly does not yet have the leadership aura that Rohit had. But he will forever be remembered as only the third Indian captain after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to lift the T20 World Cup.Surya can really learn from Rohit how to leave at the right time.
Vote
Do you think Suryakumar Yadav can match Rohit Sharma’s leading legacy?
Rohit did it in 2024. He was still in top form, but he understood that the future had to be prepared. With the World Cup trophy in hand, he stepped back from T20Is and made room for the next generation.Surya now stands at a similar crossroads. The timing couldn’t have been better. Go out on top, pass the baton to the next generation, and his legacy won’t just be about lifting the trophy, but knowing when to let the future begin.
