3 Reasons Why Suryakumar Yadav's Place Is Untouched In Indian T20I Team

Bhargav Dixit

Suryakumar Yadav hasn't been in the best of forms lately. [Source: @CricCrazy0/X]Suryakumar Yadav hasn't been in the best of forms lately. [Source: @CricCrazy0/X]

Bangladesh batter Soumya Sarkar and India captain Suryakumar Yadav are the only two players from Full Member Nations to have scored less than 30 runs in a T20I series (min. five innings). While Sarkar had scored 28 runs against Australia in 2021, Yadav scored the same number of runs in the recently concluded series against England.

Accustomed to attracting accolades since his international debut, this is the first time when the Indian captain has earned an infamous feat to his name. That being said, the selectors shouldn’t even be thinking of dropping him because of the following reasons:

1. Captaincy A Blessing

Irrespective of the team or format, a guaranteed long run often accompanies captaincy in cricket. Captains, who manage to bring the best out of their teams, are provided with an even longer run. With Yadav’s win/loss ratio of 4.25 best among all Indian captains till date, one sees no reason why he shouldn’t be persisted with.

Even though India won the previous T20 World Cup, it was the absence of a succession plan which played a key role in the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) turning towards Rohit Sharma for leadership. That, however, is no longer the case.

With this particular squad giving ample glimpses of being Yadav’s squad, disrupting its momentum with less than a year before the next T20 World Cup would be a wrongdoing of another level.

2. Suryakumar Yadav Has Earned The Right To Fail

It took Yadav 54 innings across six years to register a maiden T20 half-century. Since then (2016), this is only the fourth time when the right-handed batter hasn’t touched the 50-run mark across nine innings.

Since his international debut, SKY’s 41 scores of 50 or more are the fourth-highest among all T20 batters. Yadav’s strike rate of 163.68, on the other hand, is the highest among the 28 batters who have played 25 (or more) such innings in world cricket.

Now, in spite of all the razzmatazz that T20s put on display for a conventional fan, there’s no denying that it remains a difficult format to crack. Yadav, who hasn’t just cracked it but torn it apart, deserves the maximum number of chances without an iota of doubt.

3. It’s Only A Matter Of Time

As cliched as it sounds, the 34-year-old batter requires one stroke-filled knock to win back detractors. Considering the fickle nature of the format, one match-winning outing has it in it to turn the tables for a seasoned campaigner such as Yadav.

With India not playing another T20I till August, it isn’t that a one-format player such as Yadav wouldn’t get to ply his trade in the next six months. Come Indian Premier League 2025, a minimum of 14 innings should be enough for Yadav to regain form and be match ready ahead of touring Bangladesh and Australia before hosting South Africa in preparation for ICC T20 World Cup 2026.