In just four years of his T20I career, it would not be incorrect to say, that India skipper Suryakumar Yadav is a legend of the format, in his own right. In 90 matches so far, he has scored 2670 runs at an average of 37, with four tons and 21 fifties. These numbers were even better a year ago, with 2025 brining a new set of challenges for the 35-year-old.
Suryakumar Yadav’s Dwindling Form
In 2025, Suryakumar Yadav averages a poor 11.11 in 12 matches, where he has only scored 100 runs overall. The strike-rate has been down at 105 as well. Yes, this year has been the one where he has had a few injury setbacks as well, but it is perhaps not the ideal time for him to be woefully out of form.
Look, captaincy-wise there is no issues at all — as he has won 23 from 29, losing only four, with two ties. But batting has emerged as a major concern; especially when his bat was rather quiet in the Asia Cup, and the IND vs AUS series too gets underway on October 29.
Then of course, there is the South Africa series to make amends as well, but time might just be running out for him as the next T20 World Cup 2026 starts on Feb 7. What really doesn’t make sense is — he had a below-average 2024 as well, where in 18 matches he scored 429 runs with four fifties at an average of 26.
Could Shubman Gill be Made Captain for T20 World Cup?
As was very much evident in the Asia Cup, his scores of 0, 5, 12, 1 only show that he was a sort of a liability in the middle-order. In the final vs Pakistan, his 1 from five deliveries put excessive pressure on the batters to follow, and even Shubman Gill could not cope up.
All this, despite having a wonderful IPL 2025 season, where he finished as the second highest run-getter (717), after Sai Sudharsan. For now, India has 15 matches left before they go into the T20 World Cup next year, and it becomes crucial for the skipper, to fix the glitches. Because what’s working for him in the IPL, isn’t reaping rewards at the international level.
With only three days to go for the AUS series now, Surya will have to come up with a plan that just changes his returns for now, or else the management might just be tempted, just a bit, to hand over the reigns of the team to Shubman, so that Surya can solely focus on being a batter.
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