Spotlight on Suryakumar as India eye series win

Shubman Gill’s lean patch has been the talking point but an equally “out of runs” skipper Suryakumar Yadav is also under intense scrutiny as India look to find the right balance and seal the five-match series against South Africa in the fourth T20I on Wednesday.

The third game was an ideal opportunity for Suryakumar to rediscover his touch while India chased a modest 118-run target, but the ease that once made him the top ranked batter in the world was noticeably missing.

Shots that defined his dominance have been producing erratic results and the match in Dharamsala was no different as he fell to his trademark pick-up stroke, highlighting a continued struggle. But he was defiant when it came to self-assessment.

“The thing is, I’ve been batting beautifully in the nets. I’m trying everything that’s in my control. When the runs have to come, they’ll definitely come. I’m not out of form, but definitely out of runs,” Suryakumar confidently said at the post-match presentation ceremony after India’s win in Dharamsala on Sunday. However, the numbers tell a worrying story.

The Indian captain has been searching for fluency for over a year, averaging under 15 in the format this season. Additionally, he’s still without a half-century in 2025, the longest such phase of his career. Only twice during this period has he managed to bat beyond 20 balls.

With the T20 World Cup less than two months away, the defending champions would want their leader and premier batter to rediscover his rhythm sooner rather than later. Vice-captain Shubman Gill’s struggles are as bad if not worse. His elevation to the opening slot has seemingly unsettled India’s top order.

Gill replaced a well-settled Sanju Samson. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter was first pushed down the order and eventually dropped despite forming a promising partnership with Abhishek Sharma earlier.

Gill has shown his class in other formats, but in T20Is he is yet to come across as the assured batter that he is in Tests and ODIs. While he survived during Sunday’s low-target chase, his scratchy run-a-ball 28 did little to ease concerns with seven matches to go before the World Cup.

India have added Shahbaz Ahmed to the squad following Axar Patel’s illness-enforced exit from the series, a move that could open the door for Kuldeep Yadav to get an extended run. Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the previous game due to personal reasons, is likely to be available for selection.

In his absence, Arshdeep Singh returned to form with a player-of-the-match performance, while Harshit Rana complemented him well in Dharamsala. “What I have heard is that Bumrah is available. But exactly I don’t know. I am not 100 per cent sure,” India all-rounder Shivam Dube said on the eve of the match.

Fortunes have swung wildly so far in the series. While India dominated and the South Africans looked completely out of sorts in the lung-opener, the roles were reversed in the next match. South Africa have been comprehensively beaten twice so far and would be eager to win on Wednesday to keep the series alive.

Since the T20 World Cup final last June, the Proteas have lost 18 of the 28 matches in the shortest format, highlighting a prolonged phase of inconsistency. Still searching for a settled combination, the South African team management continues to ring in changes. The constant chopping and changing has contributed to a lack of rhythm in the players and has ultimately cost them many games.

The last edition’s runners-up side has five matches remaining — two against India and three at home against the West Indies — to finalise the playing XI before its T20 World Cup opener on February 9. Whether the Proteas persist with rotation at the expense of results remains to be seen.

Teams:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Shahbaz Ahmed, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.