India national cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav has revealed that he apologised to teammate Axar Patel after the all-rounder was dropped for key matches during India’s title-winning campaign at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Suryakumar, who became just the third Indian captain to win a T20 World Cup, said Axar was upset after being left out of the playing XI for two matches during the tournament. Axar missed India’s group-stage game against the Netherlands national cricket team and was also not selected for the crucial Super 8 clash with South Africa national cricket team.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Suryakumar said the decision led to a difficult conversation with the experienced all-rounder. ““He (Axar) was very angry – and he should have been,” Suryakumar said. “He’s an experienced player; he leads a franchise. He should be angry. I apologised. I told him I made a mistake and I’m sorry, but it was a call for the team. It was a hard conversation. He took it in his stride, and we talked it through the next day.”
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Axar returned to the playing XI after India suffered a 76-run defeat to South Africa in their opening Super 8 match. The loss left India needing wins against Zimbabwe national cricket team and West Indies cricket team to qualify for the semifinals.
Suryakumar said the planning for the tournament began in 2024 when he took over as captain. One of the key decisions was to change the team’s approach and focus less on individual milestones. “We knew the way we played the 2024 T20 World Cup – that brand of cricket – won’t work going ahead,” he said. “So, we decided: from hereon we will not pay attention to personal milestones, the goal is to win games.”
He added that India’s success was built on collective contributions rather than individual records. “If you noticed, till the semifinals none of our players were top run-getters or top wicket-takers. But we qualified and kept winning. Every game, every player contributed. It was very important to spread this thing like a virus in the team from the start. We planted this team culture 18 months back,” he said.
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