Suryakumar Yadav once easily found a place among the best batters in T20 cricket. Whether it was spin or pace, or fielding setups, he didn't care about any of it. This cricketer was skilled at playing shots around the wicket to take his team to big totals. But finding similarities between the current Suryakumar and that Surya is quite difficult. It seems his form has declined ever since becoming captain of India's T20 team. In his last 19 innings, he has scored a total of 222 runs, which doesn't include a single half-century. Is it just the burden of leadership, or are there other reasons behind Surya's off-form?
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Suryakumar Yadav's last half-century came 13 months ago. The question arises: apart from the burden of leadership, what else is behind Surya losing his rhythm? This is where one issue comes up. Many believe that Suryakumar is facing problems due to frequent changes in batting order. Out of his last 19 T20 innings, Surya has batted at number three in 12 of them. In the remaining seven, he batted at four. Among these 19 innings, the notable ones are 47 runs against Pakistan and 39 against Australia. Both these innings came while batting at number three.
Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir
This means the frequent experimentation by Gambhir-Agarkar with the team is affecting this star cricketer. Usually, the team's best cricketer is sent in at number three so that he has the opportunity to face the most balls. And this constant changing of set positions is causing Surya problems in scoring runs consistently. Therefore, experts believe the Indian team management needs to find a quick solution to this problem before the World Cup.
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Former players like Robin Uthappa believe Suryakumar should permanently bat at number three for India in T20 format. He considers Tilak Varma suitable for batting at number four. Now it remains to be seen whether Surya can find his familiar rhythm in the remaining four matches against South Africa.
