PM Modi meets T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav ahead of Diwali
New Delhi: on Friday met with former India T20I captain and his family in New Delhi, marking the occasion with a special Diwali meeting. The meeting also highlighted India’s recent cricketing success, with Suryakumar wearing his gold medal from the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup triumph.
In a special moment, PM Modi was seen holding the medal alongside the Mumbai cricketers, commemorating India’s triumph on the global stage. The Prime Minister shared the details of the meeting on his X account, reflecting on the spiritual significance of this year’s Diwali celebrations, drawing a connection to Lord Ram’s arrival in Ayodhya and the sacred River Saryu.
“In the atmosphere of Diwali, the arrival of Ram and Saryu has taken place. This has made the environment of Diwali even more sacred and divine,” PM Modi wrote on X.
दीपावली के माहौल में राम और सरयू का आगमन हुआ है। इससे दीपावली का वातावरण और भी पावन एवं दिव्य हो गया है।
@surya_14kumar https://t.co/B6vwr35Iwm
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 6, 2026
Suryakumar Yadav’s career
Suryakumar has enjoyed great success in the T20I format, as a batter and as captain of the Indian team. He was honoured as the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year in both 2022 and 2023, while also climbing to the top of the ICC T20I batting rankings in October 2022.
He registered a career-high rating of 910 points in January 2023, placing him among the highest-rated batters in T20I history. Suryakumar also played a crucial role in the team’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning campaign before captaining the side to its second consecutive title in 2026.
He also led India to the T20 Asia Cup title in the UAE in 2025. However, his captaincy stint ended after the 2026 T20 World Cup title victory. Suryakumar was then dropped from India’s T20I squad for the series against Ireland and England.
He was replaced by Shreyas Iyer as the captain, with his leadership stint at Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL reportedly playing a key role in the decision. Suryakumar’s struggles with the bat were also reportedly understood to have influenced the selectors decision.