Suryakumar Yadav becomes India’s most successful T20I captain in terms of win percentage, but it's not the whole story

Suryakumar Yadav becomes India’s most successful T20I captain in terms of win percentage (BCCI Photo)

The game against UAE was a walk in the park for India, as they opened their Asia Cup campaign in Dubai with a resounding nine-wicket win, with 93 balls remaining. It was the shortest T20I that India have ever played. It was also their biggest win by balls to spare in the shortest format, bettering the victory against Scotland with 81 balls remaining at the 2021 T20 World Cup.

The win also made Suryakumar Yadav the most successful Indian captain in T20Is (minimum 10 matches). He now has a win percentage of 82.6, followed by Rohit Sharma’s 80.6, Virat Kohli’s 66.7, Hardik Pandya’s 62.5 and MS Dhoni’s 60.6.

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Things, however, need to be put in perspective. Rohit led India in 62 T20Is, winning 50 of them. It was an incredible record, given the unpredictability of the format. The T20 World Cup triumph last year was his crowning glory.

Kohli captained India in 50 T20Is, securing 32 victories. Once again, very creditable, for India weren't quite a white-ball monster during the early days of his captaincy like they are now. The playing template was different and the field was more competitive. Taking that into account, Kohli did brilliantly, although an ICC trophy eluded him.

Dhoni was India’s captain in 72 T20Is, with 42 victories to his credit. But the hard numbers could never describe his impact as a skipper. Without Dhoni leading India to the crown at the inaugural World T20, the T20 boom (read, IPL) probably wouldn't have happened in the country. Given his achievements, he is unquestionably India’s greatest-ever white-ball captain.

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Surya permanently took over the T20I reins after the 2024 T20 World Cup, as Rohit retired from the format. So far, he has led India in 23 matches, winning 19 of them. Over the past 12-odd months, the ‘Men in Blue’ have steamrolled every opponent they faced. It's not only about the team's high-octane batting. It's very difficult to get the better of a bowling unit as good as this. To paraphrase a famous Australian cricket proverb — if Bumrah doesn't get you, Varun, or Kuldeep must.

So strong is India’s bowling attack that they can afford to keep a player of Arshdeep Singh’s quality on the bench. Surya, and his team, however would be judged their performance in the next year’s T20 World Cup. India are co-hosting the tournament with Sri Lanka.