India will face South Africa in five T20Is, starting on Tuesday at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. As the players begin their preparations, cricketer-turned-commentator Parthiv Patel has commented about the hosts’ skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s desire to score large runs.
The former cricketer believes that, despite grinding it out on the domestic circuit with Mumbai for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, Suryakumar’s results were below what is anticipated of a batter of his level. In the domestic tournament, the top hitter failed to score a half-century in any of his five matches.
“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 Yadav 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.
India
