Suryakumar Yadav is all set to return to domestic cricket. The India T20I captain was on a two-week break in order to attend a family function. He will be back on the field in Mumbai’s next game in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on the 3rd of December in Hyderabad.
The 34-year-old last featured in a competitive game a couple of weeks ago in South Africa when he led India to a series win against the Proteas. He couldn’t deliver with the bat but led the side pretty well. He’s had a solid start to his T20I captaincy tenure. Under Surya, India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 before thrashing Bangladesh 3-0. They flew to South Africa and beat them 3-1.
Surya played a couple of first-class games early in the Indian domestic season. He played in the Buchi Babu tournament where he injured his hand. The Mumbai-born cricketer returned after a month to play one Duleep Trophy encounter before featuring in one Ranji Trophy match. He will now play the remaining two group-stage fixtures (against Services and Andhra Pradesh) in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the knockouts if Mumbai qualify. They are well placed at the moment with three wins from four games in Group E. Wins in both the remaining games will seal their place in the knockouts. Mumbai last won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy a couple of seasons ago.
The 34-year-old dynamic batter is set to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well which starts on the 21st of December. According to reports on ESPNCricinfo, Shreyas Iyer is likely to continue to be Mumbai’s captain despite Surya’s return. Moreover, it is learnt that the India T20I captain is happy to play under Iyer’s leadership and does not mind batting anywhere in the line-up.
A quiet year for Surya

2024 has been a quiet year for Suryakumar Yadav as far as batting is concerned. In all T20s, he has got 774 runs at an average of 29.76 and a strike-rate of 158.28. Since the start of 2019, he has been on a roll, averaging in excess of 40 and striking over 145. 2021 and 2024 are the only exceptions to that.
His T20I numbers in 2024 aren’t the best either. He’s got 429 runs while averaging 26.81 and striking at 151.59 this year. This is in stark contrast to the last three years when he has dominated the shortest format. That average and strike-rate are the lowest in a calendar year in T20I cricket for him in his career so far.
Surya will be hoping to regain some form before India’s next white-ball assignment which is against England in January. There are quite a few big Indian names taking part in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Varun Chakravarthy and Ishan Kishan are some of the big names in the different teams. Most of them are expected to continue to feature consistently in domestic cricket after the BCCI made it mandatory last year.