Former India captain Rohit Sharma opened up on Suryakumar Yadav's lean patch ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. The World Cup-winning captain believes that Suryakumar Yadav's form is crucial for the batting unit if Team India wants to defend their title.
Rohit Sharma on Suryakumar Yadav's form
Suryakumar Yadav has been going through a lean patch of his career since taking over captaincy duties from Rohit Sharma after India's T20 World Cup win.
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“It’s not about the captain getting in form or not. If a player is not in form. The seven or eight batters we have, out of that, we are getting one less batter. The main batting power that we have, obviously, if you leave one out, then it will not be as effective as it should be. If Surya doesn’t play well, the batting lineup suffers" Rohit Sharma told Star Sports.
“I think Surya has a lot of understanding regarding the game and the players who are playing with him, how to get the best out of them.”
Suryakumar Yadav's form in 2025
After a tough spell at the end of 2024, Suryakumar Yadav found his rhythm again during the 2025 IPL and looked close to his best. But that form didn’t carry over to international cricket. In the T20I series that followed, he continued to struggle. Over the course of 2025, Suryakumar scored just 218 runs in 19 T20I innings, with an average of only 13.62 and a strike rate of 123.16. For the first time in his career, his strike rate stayed below 150 for an entire year.
Suryakumar Yadav's upcoming assignment
Suryakumar Yadav will now be seen featuring in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand which is scheduled to start from January 21. This will be India's last assignment before the T20 World Cup 2026. The T20 World Cup will start from February 7 where India will take on USA in their tournament opener at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.