“Excited to see you lead the Men in Blue to many victories” – Jay Shah’s birthday wish for Suryakumar Yadav

BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who will take the helm as the new ICC chief in December, has penned down a special birthday wish for India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, who turned 34 on Saturday, September 14. Shah has backed Yadav to continue his merry ways in the shortest format following the 3-0 clean sweep against Sri Lanka, which came in his first-ever full-time captaincy stint.

Yadav had also led India to a 4-1 series win against Australia in the shortest format last year.

Notably, Yadav has seven wins in 10 T20Is as skipper. He replaced Rohit Sharma following the latter’s retirement after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Hardik Pandya was overlooked for the role due to fitness issues.

Sharing a post with Suryakumar Yadav on X, Jay Shah wrote:

“Happy Birthday to our T20I skipper and Mr. 360 with the bat, @surya_14kumar! I'm excited to see you lead the Men in Blue to many victories in the shortest format. Best wishes for the year ahead!”

Yadav will next lead India in the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in October.

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“Be Yourself always” – Suryakumar Yadav’s words of wisdom to India U19 players on his birthday eve

Suryakumar Yadav recently shared words of wisdom with India U19 players at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He said to the boys (via NCA source to PTI):

"Be yourself always. Each one of you has a rare skill. Bring it on the table as one. Focus more on process and routines and result will be taken care of".

On the batting front, Yadav has amassed 2,432 runs in 71 T20Is at a strike rate of 168.65 with the help of four centuries and 20 fifties. The Mumbai batter was named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2022 and 2023.

Yadav was part of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad. He took a match-defining catch of David Miller in the final against South Africa, which is etched in the memory of India fans worldwide.

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