While India will enter the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 as the defending champions and co-hosts, one major concern will be the poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav. One of the best batters of the shortest format, SKY had a lacklustre last year where he could manage just 218 runs across 19 innings at a modest rate of 123.16.
Echoing on the same lines, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting shared some advice for the Indian star to help him get over the dry spell ahead of the ICC event.
Speaking to ICC review, Ponting opined, “He plays all of his shots and backs himself and a bit like Travis Head where it almost looks like they don’t ever fear getting out. That’s what I’d say to him. I’d be saying, think about scoring runs, don’t think about getting out.”
Ponting added, “Trust yourself, back yourself. You’re proven to be as good as anybody in the world in the T20 format and go and prove it to everybody once again.”
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Heralded for being a 360 player, Suryakumar has been a beast in the format since his debut back in 2021. From March 2021 to July 2024, he amassed 2,432 runs at an average of 42.66 and strike rate of 168.65, which also earned him consecutive T20I cricketer of the year (2022 and 2023) awards. However, in recent times, he has looked like a pale shadow of his former self.
His form post the T20 World Cup 2024 win witnessed a sharp depreciation, averaging at 16 with only one fifty to his name. Furthermore, captaincy also took a toll with his numbers being far superior when he was not leading the side with 2040 runs at an average of 43.40, including 3 centuries and 17 half-centuries.
Suryakumar Yadav also seemed to be struggling with his own strengths falling prey, trying to play his dominant shots, as has been evident in the recent past and India will strongly hope that one of their biggest T20 star finds his form before the T20 World Cup 2026 begins.
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