Suryakumar Yadav promises strong comeback before T20 World Cup campaign
What's the story
Suryakumar Yadav, India's T20I captain, has acknowledged his recent struggles with form. However, he is confident of making a comeback before the T20 World Cup starts on February 7. Over the past year, Suryakumar's performance in T20Is has been below par. The Indian skipper also had a dismal series against South Africa that got over on Friday with the 5th T20I held in Ahmedabad. Here's more.
Performance review
Suryakumar's recent performances and upcoming matches
Suryakumar's recent performances have been disappointing, with scores of 12, 5, 12, and 5 in the T20I series against South Africa at home. He now has just five games left to find some runs before India's T20 World Cup defense. India will take on New Zealand at home next month for a 5-match T20I series. Despite these struggles, Suryakumar remains optimistic about his ability to turn things around ahead of the global event.
Admission
Suryakumar acknowledges his lean patch
Speaking at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, where India announced their squad for the T20 World Cup, Suryakumar admitted that this patch has stretched a bit too long. "I'm sure everyone has seen this in their respective careers. I will also go over it sometime. I know what to do, I know where things are going wrong," Suryakumar said to the media on Saturday.
Leadership challenges
Suryakumar's captaincy and performance dip
Suryakumar's form slump began after he was appointed T20I captain following India's World Cup victory under Rohit Sharma in June 2024. He struggled during his first series as captain against South Africa, scoring over five runs just once in three attempts. His performance didn't improve much during India's home series against England earlier this year, where he scored two ducks and had a top score of 14 in five innings.
Performance fluctuations
Suryakumar's form fluctuates in international matches
After a seven-month gap, Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 47 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. However, his form dipped again after that. He averaged 8.50 during the South Africa T20Is at home. Despite these struggles, Suryakumar remained adamant that he was "not out of form but out of runs." This statement highlights his belief that he still has the potential to perform well if given enough opportunities and time to regain his rhythm.
2025
Suryakumar Yadav posts 13.62 average in 2025 calendar year (T20Is)
Playing his 21st T20I this year (19 innings) on Friday against the Proteas in Ahmedabad, Suryakumar ended up with a tally of 218 runs at 13.62. His strike rate in the 2025 calendar year read 123.16. As per ESPNcricinfo, Suryakumar struggled against pace bowlers in 2025. Across 19 innings, he scored a paltry 123 runs against pace at 8.20. He was dismissed on 15 counts. His strike rate against pace was an abysmal 112.84.
Batting style
Suryakumar's batting style and future prospects
Suryakumar had shot to the top of the ICC T20I Rankings among batters not long before that with his jaw-dropping 360-degree style of batting and consistency. He has the joint-second-most Player-of-the-Series awards in the format behind Virat Kohli, he scored an India record 1164 T20I runs in 2022 at an average of 46.56 while striking at 187.43 in 31 innings, and he's only one century away from equalling Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell for the most hundreds (five) in T20Is.