 "India captain Suryakumar Yadav has scored just 17 runs in two outings so far in the T20I series against South Africa at home. AP")
Suryakumar Yadav has done a stellar job in succeeding Rohit Sharma as India’s T20I captain last year, with the Men in Blue winning 28 and losing just six games under his leadership, including a couple of Super Over wins.
Surya’s form with the bat, however, remains a concern a couple of months before India defends its T20 world title on home soil, with the 35-year-old having scored just 201 runs in 19 appearances this year at an average of 14.35 and a strike rate of 126.41.
And in the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa, the Mumbai Indians star was dismissed for scores of 12 and 5 in Cuttack and New Chandigarh respectively.
Ahead of the third T20I, which takes in Dharamsala on Sunday, ‘SKY’ was reminded by former India opener Aakash Chopra that his job as captain also included contributing with the bat, and not just spinning the coin at toss or making fielding and bowling changes.
“You are the team’s captain, but a captain’s job is not just to toss and manage the bowlers. It’s not just about making the strategy. If you bat in the top four, your primary role is to score runs,” Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel on Friday.
“It’s been many matches. If you have an average of 14 in 17 innings and the strike rate is also not very good, you don’t have a single fifty, and have crossed 25 just twice, it’s been a problem on either side of the IPL,” the former Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders opener added.
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View AllNo questions regarding Surya’s captaincy, insists Chopra
Chopra added that he wasn’t criticising Surya’s tenure as T20I captain, during which India has not lost a single bilateral series and lifted the Asia Cup in September by winning all the seven matches that it had played, three of them against arch-rivals Pakistan.
“I am not saying there is any doubt over Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy, or that he won’t be India’s captain in the World Cup. I am not suggesting that at all, so don’t ever misquote me, but the truth is that he needs to score runs.
“If you are playing at No. 3 or No. 4 and are not scoring runs, and they aren’t being scored consistently and over a long period of time, you won’t be that confident when you start the World Cup. So, Suryakumar Yadav, the captain, and Shubman Gill, the vice-captain, scoring runs is absolutely imperative,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
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The T20I series between India and South Africa currently stands tied at 1-1. While the Men in Blue won the series opener by a commanding 101 runs at Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium on Tuesday, the Proteas bounced back two days later at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium with a 51-run victory.