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Big tournaments often reveal the subtleties of leadership, and former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting saw plenty of that in the way India navigated their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign under skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
India entered the tournament as favourites, carrying expectations and navigating form concerns within the squad. The captain himself endured a challenging campaign with the bat - apart from a rescue act of 84* off 49 in the opener against USA, Yadav managed 158 runs across the other eight innings - yet steered the side to peak when it mattered most. Ponting believes the real measure of captaincy lies behind closed doors. "It's about a lot more than what they do off the field, the things that people don't see and how they interact with their players," Ponting said as per the ICC website The Australian great also underlined how leading a side becomes tougher when personal form dips, which is a situation Yadav navigated through the tournament. "He didn't have a great time himself as a player, but still he's standing at the end holding up a World Cup trophy," Ponting noted. "I know, as a former captain, when you're not batting at your absolute best, captaincy can become really difficult. And when you are batting well, captaincy can become really easy." Ponting also pointed to how Yadav managed players under pressure, particularly those fighting form and confidence. "It would have been really interesting to see how Surya has interacted with Abhishek (Sharam) and Sanju (Samson) over the last few weeks. That's where the real stories will come out on true leadership," he added. Abhishek Sharma, the ICC No. 1-ranked T20I batter, endured a turbulent run. Three straight ducks, low-string scores of 15, 10 and 9, and just one fifty before the final. Yet on the biggest stage of the Final, he rediscovered his form, smashing 52 off 21 balls and registering the fastest fifty of the 2026 edition in just 18 deliveries. "You don't have to worry about the staples, it's more the guys on the fringe and the younger guys going up and down with their emotions and battling with their form, the ones you have to spend the most time with," he noted. A defining tournament call came at the top of the order when Sanju Samson was handed renewed trust. His first opportunity came as a cover to Sharma early in the campaign, dropped again, and then recalled for a crucial fixture against Zimbabwe. Samson turned opportunity into dominance. A blazing 97* in a virtual knockout against the West Indies sparked his run. Scores of 89 (42) in the semi-final against England and 89 (46) in the final against New Zealand followed. In just five innings, Samson amassed 321 runs, the most by an Indian in a single T20 World Cup. Ponting highlighted the significance of India's faith in him. "For India to stick with him at the top there, that was a big call to make. A big decision, but one that worked out really well in the end," he said. If you get the backing of the coaching staff and the captain, then that's all you need... Just a pat on the back or an arm around the shoulder to say, 'we're sticking with you, we believe in you." "When you've got the quality that Sanju's got, and the confidence of the captain and coach behind you, that's when great things can happen," he concluded. (ANI)
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