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Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar has said that the innings in the first T20I is what Suryakumar needed (AP Photo)
Worries over Suryakumar Yadav’s form was a major talking point before the start of India’s ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. Three matches into it, the Indian captain seems to have shown that fans will probably get to see the best of him in the upcoming T20 World Cup, with Suryakumar playing a major role in India’s daunting batting displays thus far in the series.
Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar has said that the innings in the first T20I is what Suryakumar needed. “His knock the other day in Raipur gave him exactly the confidence he needed. He hasn’t been short of form; he’s been short of runs,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
Suryakumar scored a 22-ball 32 in the first match as India won by 48 runs. He has gone on to finish unbeaten on 82 off 37 in the second T20I and on 57 off 26 in the third. India won those two matches comfortably as well and have thus already confirmed victory in the five-match series. “He has been batting very well in the nets. He’s not struggling there, he’s hitting the ball cleanly and all around the ground. It just wasn’t working for him in matches. Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of luck to get going. This time, he didn’t even need luck. That innings was exactly what he needed,” said Gavaskar.
Suryakumar endured the worst year of his career last year. He scored just 218 runs 19 T20I innings at a strike rate of 123.16 and average of just 13.62. It was the first time in his career that he struck at less than 150 in a calendar year. His form had been on the wane before that as well, with Suryakumar never quite hitting the highs that made him the best T20 batter in the world after taking over captaincy post India’s succesfull campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
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