England Great Slams Suryakumar Yadav For Poor Form In T20I Series

Bhargav Dixit

Suryakumar Yadav walks back to the pavilion. [Source: @Saabir_Saabu01/X]Suryakumar Yadav walks back to the pavilion. [Source: @Saabir_Saabu01/X]

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has cast aspersions on the Indian T20I captain’s form in international cricket. With his invincibility taking a back seat since ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Yadav has managed a solitary half-century in his last 11 T20I innings.

Suryakumar Yadav’s graph has fallen down significantly since his last half-century in international cricket. Since the beginning of India’s tour of South Africa last year, Yadav has scored just 52 runs at an average and strike rate of 8.66 and 110.63 respectively across six innings.

It was on the same tour that the 34-year-old player had sacrificed his No. 3 position for Mumbai Indians’ teammate Tilak Varma. While the latter has been on a career-high since then, Yadav hasn’t been able to replicate his past glory in spite of batting at No. 3 in the recently concluded third England T20I at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.

Michael Vaughan Censures Suryakumar Yadav

Pointing out the need for top Indian players to remain in form, Vaughan expressed concerns over Yadav’s lean contribution in the last two series. During his appearance on Cricbuzz, Vaughan stated how Yadav could’ve given himself some time in the middle during a moderate 172-run chase last night.

“When you say be aggressive all the time, it is choosing the right ball to be aggressive to. Clearly you cannot hit every single ball to the boundary. For India to be the team they are, they are the world champions for a reason, they need their best players in form,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

“Only way the players get into good form is by spending time in the middle. At the minute, Suryakumar Yadav is going out there, hitting a few good shots, and before you blink, he is back on his way to the dugout, without making too much of a contribution.”

In spite of losing both the openers in successive overs, the right-handed batter could’ve benefitted from giving himself the cushion of time in the middle especially whilst battling poor form. With India set to defend their world title in 12 months from now, one would hope for Yadav to regain lost glory at the earliest.