Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan believes that Suryakumar Yadav will improve his form in the upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia. The 35-year-old has been going through a rough patch in T20Is that has seen him not being able to record a single 50+ score for over a year now. 2025 hasn't been a memorable year for Suryakumar and he has only scored a total of 100 runs in 11 innings so far.
Pathan expresses faith in Suryakumar
However, Pathan feels that Suryakumar will be able make a turnaround in the series against Australia. He pointed out that the India captain prefers to use the pace of the bowlers to his advantage and will be able to do exactly that on the Australian pitches.
"One cause of concern is skipper Surya’s batting and his form. If you see the numbers for the last few years, he had a strike rate of 166 and no one made more runs than him. Now if the average is going towards 20 and you are struggling to make runs that means your form is down. Will Surya make runs in Australia?" Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
"I think the pitches should suit him. He uses the pace of the bowlers and he plays well square of the wicket, it’s ideal for Surya. If you recall, when Surya debuted, he used the pace of Jofra Archer and played a shot. If a player plays that kind of a shot, it’s his strength. If the pitches suit his strengths then it’ll be easier for him to come back to form,” he added.
Suryakumar's fantastic record as T20I captain
Though Suryakumar hasn't been at his best with the bat since replacing Rohit Sharma as India's T20I captain in July of 2024, the team has undoubtedly flourished under his leadership. Not only did they come out victorious in the 2025 Asia Cup, they are also yet to lose a bilateral series since he took over last year. They will be aiming to maintain that perfect record as they face Australia in what is expected to be quite an important series especially with the 2026 T20 World Cup on the horizon.
India’s squad for Australia T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.