Suryakumar's lack of runs a worry in lead-up to T20 World Cup

Since November 2024, Suryakumar Yadav has scored only 227 runs in 20 innings at an average of 13.35 and strike rate of 120.10 in T20Is. He hasn't scored a fifty - and only two of his innings have lasted beyond 20 balls - in this period. Marco Jansen prolonged that lean run on Thursday, when he dismissed Suryakumar for 5 in four balls.

India were eventually bowled out for 162 in pursuit of 214 in the second T20I against South Africa in New Chandigarh. It was only their fourth defeat in 21 completed T20Is since November 2024. That record is down to India's depth, which allowed them to win without substantial contributions from Suryakumar.

But, on Thursday, another bad day for Suryakumar coincided with a rare bad day for most of the other batters. Bad turned to worse when India tumbled to a 51-run loss, their second-biggest in terms of runs in the format, putting the spotlight on the SKYfall - both as a batter and captain.

Suryakumar had walked out to bat at No. 4, and nicked his fourth ball from Jansen behind in a Test-match-style dismissal. There was a brief window of early movement available, and South Africa's attack made the most of it, taking three wickets in the powerplay - including that of Suryakumar's. Though the dew, which was also present during the first innings, threatened to hamper the bowlers even more during the second, South Africa were never really tested by the elements.

Suryakumar perhaps missed a trick by not staying at No. 3 after Shubman Gill was also swung out, for a duck. He didn't send Tilak Varma in at No. 3 either. India instead bumped Axar Patel up to No. 3 for the first time in 52 T20I innings, and exposed him to that swing and seam movement. Axar laboured to a run-a-ball 21 in an unfamiliar role - he is used to being promoted, but as a spin disruptor. Neither Axar nor Shivam Dube, who is also a spin hitter, ended up facing a ball from left-arm spinner George Linde in a tactical mis-step. Linde got away with figures of 3-0-23-0.

"We just thought in the last game [in Cuttack]... we've seen Axar bat really well in the longer format, and we wanted him to bat the same way today as well, but [it was] unfortunate," Suryakumar told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. "He did bat well, but we'll see what works out for us going on in the next games."

Suryakumar said that he should have fared better with the bat, and taken "that responsibility" in the chase.

"I think myself, [and] Shubman, we could have given a good start because we can't rely on Abhishek [Sharma] all the time - the way he's been batting, he might have an off day," Suryakumar said. "Me, Shubman and a few other batters, we should have taken [the responsibility], I think it would have been a smart chase. But then it's okay, Shubman got out on the first ball, but yeah, I should have taken that responsibility, batted a little deeper. But as I said, we learn, we try and do better in the next game to come."

While Suryakumar's low output is a concern, there are no real set patterns to his dismissal. From November 2024, he has been dismissed 17 times to pace - in various ways ranging from caught in the deep to caught behind to chopping on - and just once to spin.

Such a low output can happen to any batter, and especially to someone who plays high-risk cricket in T20s. It's easy to forget that Suryakumar has been in this position before, and broken out of the funk.

Suryakumar had entered IPL 2025 on the back of two ducks in five innings against England at home, but turned his form around in spectacular style, cracking 717 runs in 16 innings at an average of 65.18 and a strike rate of 167.91. He won the MVP award that year, and propelled Mumbai Indians into the knockouts.

Big runs have been sparse either side of the IPL, but India's team management will be hoping that Suryakumar can turn his form around, again, this time in the lead-up to a home World Cup.