India national cricket team’s T20 International captain Suryakumar Yadav gave a strong statement about his struggles in ODI cricket after their victory in the T20 World Cup 2026. The middle-order batsman said he never fully understood the One Day International format as it requires batting versatility.
Suryakumar last played an ODI for the Men in Blue during the 2023 World Cup. The right-handed batsman has scored 773 runs in 37 matches at an average of 25.77 and a strike rate of 105.03, which includes four half-centuries. The team management had selected him to play an important finishing role in the lower order.
It’s a format I have never understood – Suryakumar Yadav on ODI cricket
Speaking to Press Trust of India, Suryakumar Yadav emphasized that in ODIs, batsmen will have to change gears between traditional defensive techniques and aggressive hitting depending on the match situation.
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Suryakumar said, “I think as closely as I have experienced ODI cricket and I have seen it, it is a format where you have to bat in three different ways. Sometimes, if you go early, if wickets fall early, you have to bat like in Test cricket.”
“Then you have to bat with a good strike rate, like in an ODI, and then later on at the end of the innings, you have to bat the same way as you do in the T20 format. So, it is a format that I never understood. I tried my best to play it. But then it is a challenging format,” he said.
You get what is written in your life – Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav said that his cricket journey has been shaped by circumstances. He said that he tried to perform well in ODIs, but did not get the same success in T20 cricket. He said that the T-20 format suits his style the most and he has been successful in it.
Surya said, “…what is written in your life is what you get. I started off with red-ball cricket, played Ranji Trophy for 10-12 years. I played a lot of red-ball cricket in Bombay because if you grow up in Bombay, you start off with the red ball, so everything is around the red ball.”
“But gradually, when we started playing white-ball cricket, the inclination became a bit towards that side. And after that, I came to this format (T20). I also tried hard in one-day cricket to play well in it, but nothing happened there.”
He said, “As things were going on in T20, we can say that our hand has been set.”
Suryakumar Yadav’s last ODI match came in the 2023 World Cup final.
Suryakumar Yadav played his last ODI match against Australia during the 2023 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India lost the summit clash by six wickets as the Australia national cricket team, led by Pat Cummins, won a record sixth World Cup title.
Suryakumar Yadav could not make a big impact in that match. He scored 18 runs from 28 balls before he was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood in the 48th over.
Suryakumar later returned to the same venue and led India to win the 2026 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill was made the ODI captain in place of Rohit Sharma. After defeats against Australia and New Zealand, Gill is still waiting for his first series win.
