India will be taking on South Africa for five T20Is, with the series commencing on Tuesday in the game at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. As the players lock in their preparations, cricketer-turned-commentator Parthiv Patel has spoken on hosts’ skipper Suryakumar Yadav being in dire need to get big runs under his belt.
The former cricketer believes that despite grinding it out in domestic circuit with Mumbai for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, Suryakumar’s returns were not like what is expected from the batter of his calibre. In the domestic tournament, the star batter did not score a single half-century in the five matches he featured in.
“It is true that if you look at Suryakumar Yadav, the batter, there is a need for runs. He got a start in Australia, and we got some glimpses. We have seen some innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 as well, but those big runs haven’t come,” Parthiv told in a discussion on Star Sports.
The erstwhile wicketkeeper-batter underscored how most of Suryakumar’s runs came off high-risk shots. He also noted that it will be ideal for the 35-year-old to spend more time at the crease and then progress with his innings, rather than being aggressive right from the outset.
“Talking about the leg-side, the flick is his favorite shot. He picks the length quickly and is very fast with his footwork. If we look at his scoring areas, 50% comes from the fine leg in the leg-side region. Most of the shots you hit in those areas are off the balls that are bowled into the stumps. That means you are taking a lot of risk. I feel he should take some time, and if that happens, we will again see him score those runs on the leg side,” he added.
Suryakumar’s four innings in India‘s recent five-match series Down Under resulted in only 84 runs being scored. Although he batted at a strike rate of 171.42, the dynamic batter was not able to bat long enough in the middle.
With the T20 World Cup 2026 fast approaching, the Indian team will be hoping for their captain to regain the form with the bat.
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