As India kicked off their preparations for the T20 World Cup with an impressive 48-run victory against New Zealand in the first T20I here on Wednesday, their captain Suryakumar Yadav quietly surpassed a significant landmark. He received his 100th cap for his country in the shortest format. For context, that is two more than MS Dhoni. He is only the third Indian to feature in 100 or more T20Is, after Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. But unlike these superstars that have preceded him, Surya is not quite a white-ball great. His ODI record is middling at best: 37 matches without a single century. He is, by those marks, India’s first T20 specialist, captaining the team in an era in which the shortest format has outrightly taken over the public’s consciousness. His one-track mind and specific skills were the reasons why he was entrusted to lead India going into a high-profile title defence after they phased out the stars of the previous generation from the 2024 triumph. He has done a fairly good job at that, sealing a 30th win in 35 games for his side on Wednesday. But his returns with the bat, over a prolonged recent period, have been so modest that, seen within the context of the recent shakeups in the team’s top order, India’s T20 marauder and leader may well be a liability for them going into a World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav in action. (FILE photo) His contribution on Wednesday was not nothing, but that is about the highest praise it can receive. His 22-ball 32 was no display of his usual innovative 360-degree shotmaking, nor a selection of his typical, daring drives on the up. There were a couple of well-timed boundaries and a lovely throwback pick-up six, bending on one knee to send a wobble-seamer soaring above fine leg. But it was also full of mishits in an innings that was bursting with intent but hardly had any control: Surya’s general malaise as he has tried to work himself out of this funk. It was still his third-highest score in 15 months, a period in which he has gone 23 innings without crossing 50. A closer look at his stats since the start of October 2024 tell a dire tale: 388 runs, nearly a third of India’s top runscorer Abhishek Sharma, in 26 innings at an average of 16.86 at a meagre strike rate of 134.42. Fruitful IPL In between, he did have a fruitful IPL last year, showing he is not totally out of form. But a bulk of his runs came against spin there, not against international-grade fast bowlers that have found crafty ways of getting his number and preyed on his desperation. Surya has also struggled due India’s attacking template: as the captain, he is expected to lead from the front, not bide his time to understand conditions and eat up the strike in trying to find the middle of the bat. His tentative strokeplay, arrival at the crease often early due to the loss of a wicket and attempts to force the issue have all created a cocktail that leads opposition pacers to smell blood. His typical areas for scoring, behind square of the wicket and especially on the leg side, have dried up thanks to fast bowlers taking the pace off and getting him to mistime and sky shots in front of him; his premeditated hard hands and a hard bat swing doing their work for them.Story continues below this ad Suryakumar Yadav in action. (FILE photo) These continuing struggles cannot be seen in isolation. They trouble India further after they shot themselves in the foot by constantly rejigging their set batting order. Arguably only Abhishek Sharma is now in form in India’s top four going into the World Cup. While he was in the runs, Sanju Samson was sent roaming the batting order to accomodate vice-captain Shubman Gill, who had been shoehorned into the side on the back of impressive showings as Test skipper. Ahead of the World Cup, they backtracked on that decision, leaving Sanju with just a few games to work himself back into form. Tilak Varma’s recent injury has put a further spanner in the works. It is a non-negotiable for the Indian captain to get back into the runs over the next four T20s against New Zealand this month. The team management set a precedent of prioritising form and team balance by dropping Gill. Continuing to back Surya during this relentless slump while players like the in-form Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, who defined last year’s IPL, are lurking in the background, will unquestionably undermine that. It will be a thumb to the nose to the sheer embarrassment of T20 batting riches in this country to persist with a batter that has a 12-month average of 20. Edot: Pacers now know how to bowl to SKY Suryakumar Yadav was a finer player of pace than spin for most of his career, his innovations and 360-degree strokeplay meant he could punish fast bowling in any conditions. How have those abilities fallen off so much recently?Story continues below this ad Surya’s position in the team, his relentlessness to attack, and a lack of form have all made him a tad too predictable: pacers now know where and how to bowl to him. Instead of offering him outright pace, they use their variations and take the pace off the ball, confident that Surya will try to go after them regardless, often seeing him hit balls that are not there to be hit, without pure timing or muscle. These balls are also effective in engaging dew and getting grip into the surface on low and slow subcontinental pitches. He lost his wicket three out four times in the recent South Africa series like this. Twice mistiming an aerial shot to a fielder inside the circle, and once flicking it to the fielder at deep square leg.
Why lack of impactful runs will make Suryakumar Yadav a liability during the T20 World Cup
