'Always wanted to get an opportunity' - Suryakumar Yadav rues not getting chance to play under MS Dhoni

Suryakumar Yadav laments not representing India under MS Dhoni's captaincy (Source: Instagram/Suryakumar Yadav)

Indian T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadavhas expressed regret in not getting an opportunity to play for the international side under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Surykumar made his India debut in March 2021, almost two years after Dhoni played his last international game.

Suryakumar elaborated the attributes he liked about Dhoni while playing against him the Indian Premier League. He narrated how he admired Dhoni's composure regardless of the pressure. 

"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," shared Suryakumar while speaking at JITO Connect 2025.

He also commented on his learning s from Rohit Sharma in terms of guiding youngsters. Suryakumar labelled Rohit as someone very easy to interact with.

"Then Rohit bhai (brother), 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," he added.

It is interesting to note that Rohit was recently replaced by Shubman Gill as India's new ODI skipper. Gill will assume the full-time captaincy role from the upcoming series against Australia. Rohit, who has already retired from T20Is and Tests, enjoyed a 75% win percentage in ODIs, winning 42 of the 56 games he led India in.

Suryakumar was a part of India's title-winning T20 World Cup squad. He recently led India to the Asia Cup 2025 title. Although he was not amongst the runs, his impactful captaincy was complimented by many ex-cricketers and commentators.