India secured their win in the T20 World Cup of 2026 under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav. India won the tournament against New Zealand in the final, which became historic because India successfully defended the title. This could be Surya's last match as the captain because returning to international cricket would now be difficult for him.

Surya was removed as the captain because of his age. Surya is 35 and will turn 36 this September. Given that the next T20 World Cup is two years down the road, BCCI found it fit to retire Surya from the captaincy. The public is speculating whether Surya will continue to represent his country in international cricket and also wonder whether he can become India's Imran Khan.

Imran Khan, who captained Pakistan, defeated England in the final match of the World Cup on March 25, 1992. Imran's performance in the match was his last international appearance because he later retired after playing his last match. However, unlike Imran, Surya lost his position not just as a captain but also as an integral part of the team.

If Surya is unable to play international cricket, he will join Imran Khan, who has not played any international matches since leading the team to a World Cup victory. Even if Surya returns to form, it will be extremely difficult for him to return to the team. The BCCI has already sent this message by not selecting Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvi took 28 wickets in IPL 2026, but the board did not include him in the team due to his age.

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke is among those captains who did not play international cricket in that format after winning the World Cup. Under Clarke's captaincy, the Australians won the 2015 World Cup, and after that, he announced his retirement from the limited-overs format, but was seen playing Test matches. However, he also retired from Test cricket that same year.

Rohit Sharma also led India to the T20 World Cup title in 2014. After this, he said goodbye to the T20 format. He also joins Clarke in the list of captains who retired from that format after winning the World Cup.