Modi meets Suryakumar Yadav in New Delhi, holds 2026 T20 World Cup gold ahead of Diwali

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met former India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and his family in New Delhi on Friday, sharing a Diwali moment; Suryakumar wore his gold medal from the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup and Modi was seen holding the medal alongside him.

Modi shared details of the meeting on his official X account, posting "@surya_14kumar https://t.co/B6vwr35Iwm— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 6, 2026". He wrote: "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," Modi wrote. The post and accompanying images offered a public glimpse of India’s recent cricketing success.

Suryakumar has received individual recognition in T20 internationals, having been named ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2022 and 2023. He reached the No. 1 position in the ICC T20I batting rankings in October 2022 and in January 2023 registered a career-high 910 rating points.

On the international stage, Suryakumar played a key role in India's 2024 T20 World Cup-winning campaign and then led the side to another title in 2026. Under his captaincy, India became the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup, and he also guided India to the T20 Asia Cup title in the UAE in 2025.

His captaincy tenure came to an end after the 2026 World Cup triumph, and Shreyas Iyer was named his successor. Iyer's leadership credentials at Punjab Kings in the IPL reportedly worked in his favour, and Suryakumar's recent struggles with the bat were also reportedly understood to have influenced the selection decision.

Suryakumar was subsequently left out of India's T20I squad for the UK tour, which featured matches against Ireland and England.