Asia Cup T20: Waiting for SKY to breathe fire again

As he prepares to captain India in the UAE, the batter must bring out his most aggressive approach

- Somshuvra Laha

It's not easy being Suryakumar Yadav right now. T20 ‘captaincy often landed on his lap as an interim job but he still tried to make the best of what he was given -17 wins, four defeats and one tie with India is ample proof of that resolve.

Under him, India won 4-1 at home against Australia in 2023 and drew 1-1 in South Africa before Rohit Sharma came back to lead in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Now, Shubman Gill has entered the fray as vice-captain, possibly to become an all-format captain like Virat Kohli. Which should be after the 2026 T20 World Cup, giving Yadav —he turns 35 next month— probably around six months to script a story of his own.

There is an occupational hazard in being compared with Rohit, Kohli or MS Dhoni if you are an India captain. Nowhere close to that league but every bit a team man, Surya has looked very composed as a captain but seemed to have lost his mojo as batter. From the 150s his strike rate has dropped to 116.66 this year. He managed just 26 runs in three innings against South Africa last year before slumping to 28 runs in five innings — including two ducks — against England earlier this year. That it was probably nothing was evident in the way Surya smashed 717 runs ata strike rate of 167.92 in this IPL. Then came the sports hernia surgery that sidelined him for a while.