It was another nightmarish outing for India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. Having come to the crease with India in total control, he only managed a 7-ball 5, once again appearing very scratchy in his short stay at the crease. This means that Suryakumar ends 2025 without a single fifty in T20Is. Unprecedented length of failure for a player of his pedigree.
Suryakumar ends 2025 with just 218 runs from 19 innings at a shabby average of 13.62 and woeful strike rate of 123.16, and importantly, there isn't a single fifty to his name. India's captain has been struggling to get runs and while he hasn't always looked to be out of form, the big runs have just not come. Also, when the lean patch extends, it inevitably shows in the batting as well.
Till the Asia Cup, Suryakumar wasn't really looking like he was in poor form. It seemed more like what he said during this series, more about being out of runs but not out of form. However, since the Australia T20Is, a pattern is starting to develop and sooner than later, doubts will start to magnify.
At 35, the Mumbai batter isn't getting any younger and this is a period when the hand-eye coordination as well as reflexes tend to slow down a bit. This is not to say that Suryakumar's reflexes or hand-eye coordination has declined. It is too early to come to that conclusion but there seems to be something off in his gameplay. It could just be the lack of confidence as well.
Amidst the big debate around Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson for the opening spot, Suryakumar's failures have gone under the radar. Gill is also going through an extremely poor run of form, having failed to get to a 50 in any of his 15 T20I innings this year. In short, India's captain and vice-captain are both in the firing line.
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Captaincy might give Suryakumar immunity, as will his greater sample size of proven pedigree in T20I cricket, while Gill has stiff competition from Samson. Ultimately, all three will be part of India's T20 World Cup squad, with Suryakumar set to be in the playing XI as well. However, if India harbour hopes of defending their title, they need Suryakumar in prime form.
India play five more T20Is before the 2026 World Cup. While these games are crucial for Gill, they will also be paramount for Suryakumar to find form before the showpiece event.