'He didn't have a great time as a player, but he lifted the World Cup': Ricky Ponting on Suryakumar Yadav

NEW DELHI: Big tournaments often reveal the finer aspects of leadership, and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting observed plenty of that in the way India navigated their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign under skipper Suryakumar Yadav.


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India entered the tournament as favourites, carrying high expectations while also dealing with form concerns within the squad. The captain himself endured a difficult campaign with the bat. Apart from a rescue knock of 84* off 49 balls in the opener against USA, Yadav scored 158 runs across the remaining eight innings. Despite that, he guided the team to peak at the most crucial moments.



Ponting believes the true measure of captaincy often lies behind closed doors.

"It's about a lot more than what they do off the field, the things that people don't see and how they interact with their players," Ponting said as per the ICC website.

The Australian great also pointed out that leading a side becomes even tougher when a captain’s personal form dips, something Yadav experienced during the tournament.

"He didn't have a great time himself as a player, but still he's standing at the end holding up a World Cup trophy," Ponting noted. "I know, as a former captain, when you're not batting at your absolute best, captaincy can become really difficult. And when you are batting well, captaincy can become really easy."

Ponting also highlighted how Yadav managed players under pressure, especially those struggling with form and confidence.

"It would have been really interesting to see how Surya has interacted with Abhishek (Sharma) and Sanju (Samson) over the last few weeks. That's where the real stories will come out on true leadership," he added.

Abhishek Sharma, the ICC No. 1-ranked T20I batter, had a turbulent run during the tournament. He registered three consecutive ducks, followed by low scores of 15, 10 and 9, and managed only one fifty before the final. However, on the biggest stage of the tournament, he found his form again, smashing 52 off 21 balls and recording the fastest fifty of the 2026 edition in just 18 deliveries.

"You don't have to worry about the staples, it's more the guys on the fringe and the younger guys going up and down with their emotions and battling with their form, the ones you have to spend the most time with," he noted.

A key tournament decision came at the top of the order when Sanju Samson was given renewed backing. His first opportunity came early in the campaign as cover for Sharma, but he was dropped again before being recalled for a crucial fixture against Zimbabwe. Samson seized the opportunity and turned it into a dominant run.

A blistering 97* in a virtual knockout against West Indies sparked his surge. He followed it up with scores of 89 (42) in the semifinal against England and 89 (46) in the final against New Zealand. In just five innings, Samson amassed 321 runs — the most by an Indian in a single T20 World Cup.

Ponting emphasised the importance of India’s faith in the wicketkeeper-batter.

"For India to stick with him at the top there, that was a big call to make. A big decision, but one that worked out really well in the end," he said. "If you get the backing of the coaching staff and the captain, then that's all you need... Just a pat on the back or an arm around the shoulder to say, 'we're sticking with you, we believe in you."

"When you've got the quality that Sanju's got, and the confidence of the captain and coach behind you, that's when great things can happen," he concluded.




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