New Delhi: India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav addressed his ongoing struggles in the format following the team’s impressive series victory over South Africa.
The Indian side clinched the series 3-1 after defeating the Proteas by 30 runs in the final T20I held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. One match in Lucknow was abandoned due to heavy fog.
Yadav has been experiencing a prolonged dip in form, concluding the year with another lackluster performance, scoring just five runs in the final game before being caught after mistiming a shot. The 2025 season marked his first year without a fifty in T20Is, accumulating only 218 runs across 19 innings at an average of 13.62 and a strike rate of 123.16. His highest score this year was an unbeaten 47 against Pakistan during the Asia Cup.
In his post-match comments, Yadav reflected on the team’s performance and acknowledged his own difficulties with batting. “The brand of cricket we wanted to play was the same; the result is in front of us. This [intent-laden effort] was missing; glad we were able to replicate. Wanted to bowl Bumrah one over in PP, one in the middle post-drinks and then in the end,” he stated.
“We were challenged, but this game is about how you come back. It was a good challenging series; we did what we could. The only thing is we couldn’t find Surya the batter, I think he’s missing somewhere. But he’ll come back strong. As a leader, I’m very pleased with how the series went,” Yadav added.
In the same match, Hardik Pandya earned the Player of the Match title for his explosive 63 runs off 25 balls, which included five fours and five sixes. Varun Chakravarthy was named Player of the Series for his impressive tally of 10 wickets over four innings.
