IPL 2025: Team India T20I Skipper Suryakumar Yadav Hints at IPL Captaincy Ambitions Ahead of Retention Deadline

Add as a preferred source on Google

Team India's T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav has given hints about his captaincy ambitions in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as teams prepare to make their retentions ahead of the the mega auction, which could be held next month.

The IPL player regulations for 2025-27 cycle allows teams to retain a maximum of 6 players either via retention or Right to Match (RTM) cards at the auction. Mumbai Indians is likely to be one of the teams that could use up all their slots even if it takes away Rs 75-79 Crore from their purse.

Suryakumar is expected to be retained by Mumbai Indians before the IPL mega auction and same is the case for Hardik Pandya, who replaced Rohit Sharma as the leader last season.

However, the franchise will need to take a call on their captain for the next few years. Suryakumar, whose stock has risen since over the years, has emerged as a candidate after taking over the reigns from Rohit in the national team.

The 34-year-old, who has been part of MI since 2018, dropped hints of his ambition to lead a team in the IPL during the pre-match press conference of the T20 series opener against Bangladesh.

"Aapne googly daal diya aapne (laughs) (You put me in a spot with a wrong 'un). Really enjoying this new role (as India captain). When I was playing under Rohit bhai's captaincy in MI, I used to give my inputs whatever I felt at that time," Suryakumar said.

"For India also feeling good. I captained against Sri Lanka previously against Australia and South Africa also. I have learnt from other captains on how to take the team forward.

"Aage dekhte hain. Chalte rahta hain. Baaki aapko pata toh chal hee jayega ((Let's see how it goes. Rest you will know in due course of time)," Suryakumar added.

Hardik faced a lot of flak from some sections of the fan base of having replaced Rohit as captain of Mumbai Indians. The all-rounder is likely to be retained, but remaining as captain at this stage is still a mystery.

Both Suryakumar and Bumrah are capable leaders, having shown their ability when leading the national team. So, all eyes will be on Mumbai Indians' retentions as there are reports that Suryakumar could be offered a captaincy role at other teams.