India’s men have contested the final of an ICC tournament four times in the last two and a quarter years. Their record stands at an even 2-2, defeats in the title rounds of the World Test Championship in June 2023 and the 50-over World Cup final that same November, both to Australia, somewhat assuaged by victories against South Africa in the T20 World Cup decider in Bridgetown in June 2024 and against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy title tile in Dubai last March.
India doesn’t have the fondest memories of the Narendra Modi Stadium, where more than a billion hearts shattered into a zillion pieces on a forgettable November night in 2023. India’s charge to the final of the 50-over World Cup had been exhilaratingly dominant as they crushed all before them. Still, the black-soil surface at the world’s largest cricket ground was the stage for their blackest night after Pat Cummins’ Australia ensured that Rohit Sharma and his team would endure the most painful of heartbreaks.

Among those who experienced that miserable night is Suryakumar Yadav, who didn’t have a tournament to remember even otherwise. Brought in because of Hardik Pandya’s injury that necessitated India to replace him with two players – Mohammed Shami took over the pace component and Suryakumar the batting responsibilities – the Mumbaikar mustered just 106 runs in seven innings. It’s no surprise that he hasn’t played an ODI since that fateful night when he was dismissed for 18.

While his 50-over career has run into an unyielding brick wall, Suryakumar’s journey has embarked on a remarkably upward graph in the last two and a half years. Within seven months of the World Cup heartbreak, Suryakumar wore a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck in Bridgetown. His efforts with the bat were crucial, but his greatest contribution was the extraordinary running catch in the final to evict David Miller in the last over with the trophy on the line. South Africa needed 16 when Pandya began the final over with Miller on strike; Suryakumar’s catch for the ages, under pressure, was the stuff of dreams.

Caught Suryakumar bowled Pandya would repeat itself once more that June afternoon with Kagiso Rabada caught on the boundary, just before India’s seven-run heist was formalised. No one knew at the time – not Suryakumar or Pandya, not even chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, one suspects – that these two men would hog the headlines for different reasons, a month on from that magical moment in the charming island of Barbados.