The 2020 IPL season, held in the UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saw the announcement of the Indian team for the Australia tour. The omission of a certain player from the T20 series sparked controversy, leading to debates across media platforms and criticism of the selection committee. Five years later, that same player was given the opportunity to captain Team India on the very same UAE soil. This player is Suryakumar Yadav, one of the finest batsmen in T20 cricket, whose career is filled with such remarkable coincidences. On his birthday, he will lead the team in a major match for the first time.
On September 14, 2025, the India-Pakistan match of the Asia Cup 2025 will be held in Dubai. Suryakumar Yadav, who is captaining the Indian team in a tournament for the first time, received the chance to lead in such a high-voltage match on his 35th birthday. His cricketing journey is full of dramatic coincidences. In 2020, when he wasn’t selected, a similar situation arose. A day after the team announcement, a match took place between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Suryakumar single-handedly led his team to victory against RCB, then captained by Virat Kohli, who was also the captain of Team India.
