19 innings, 218 runs, no fifty: Is the 'lap shot' behind Suryakumar Yadav’s lean patch? Former cricketer decodes

Former India pacer Varun Aaron has shared his views on Indian men's T20 team captain Suryakumar Yadav’s recent run of low scores in T20 internationals, linking it to shot selection and difficulties against slower deliveries, while also suggesting a change in batting position with the T20 World Cup in mind.Suryakumar, India’s T20I captain, scored 218 runs in 19 innings last year at an average of 13.62 and a strike rate of 123.16, without a single fifty. His form issues have drawn limited attention as India have continued to win under his leadership, remaining unbeaten in series and tournaments, including the Asia Cup.

The ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand offers Suryakumar a chance to work on his game and address concerns around his batting.Speaking on JioHotstar, Aaron said, "I think he is trying to play his lap shot too early. He is trying to take the ball from outside the off-stump and go to the on side too early. If you have a look at his dismissals through the last one year, I think, in India, his record has not been good because the wickets were a lot slower in India."He added, "A lot of the bowlers used a lot of pace-off balls. Amongst the eight times he has got out in the powerplay, four of them were to pace-off balls, and that's something which has plagued Surya through his career."

Aaron pointed out that this issue has also appeared in the IPL, despite Suryakumar’s strong numbers for Mumbai Indians, including a 717-run season last year. He said Suryakumar could benefit from batting lower in the order, as he does in the IPL.He further said, "The debate is number three or four. I personally prefer him batting at number four, what he does for the Mumbai Indians. The one common factor in all these deliveries (where he has scored runs) is that he is actually playing the ball where it is supposed to be played."For India, Suryakumar has batted at number four in 52 matches, scoring 1,657 runs at an average of 37.65 and a strike rate of 165.53, with three hundreds and 13 fifties. At number three, he has scored 856 runs in 31 innings at an average of 32.92 and a strike rate close to 160, including one century and six fifties.