As India tries to strike the correct balance and win the five-match series against South Africa in the fourth Twenty20 International on Wednesday in Lucknow, Shubman Gill’s slump has been the talk of the town, but similarly “out of runs” captain Suryakumar Yadav is also under close observation.
While India chased a modest 118-run target in the third game, Suryakumar had a perfect opportunity to regain his form, but the comfort that once made him the world’s best batter was conspicuously absent.
His signature pick-up stroke caused his dismissal at Dharamsala, underscoring his ongoing difficulty. Shots that characterized his dominance have been yielding inconsistent results. When it came to evaluating himself, however, he was unyielding.
“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.
But the figures paint a concerning picture. The Indian captain, who has averaged less than 15 in the format this season, has been looking for fluency for more than a year. Furthermore, in 2025, the longest such period of his career, he is yet to reach a half-century. He has only been able to bat past 20 balls twice in this time.
The defending champions would like their captain and best hitter to find his rhythm again as quickly as possible, since the T20 World Cup is in less than two months.
Shubman Gill, the vice-captain, is struggling just as much, if not more. India’s top order has been unsettled by his promotion to the opening position. A contented Sanju Samson was replaced by Gill. Despite initially developing a solid partnership with Abhishek Sharma, the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter was finally dumped after being pushed down the order.
Gill has demonstrated his abilities in various formats, but he hasn’t yet encountered the confident batter he is in Tests and ODIs in T20Is. With seven games remaining before the World Cup, his sloppy run-a-ball 28 did little to allay worries, even though he survived Sunday’s low-target chase.
After Axar Patel was forced to withdraw from the series due to sickness, India added Shahbaz Ahmed to the team, which may allow Kuldeep Yadav to play for a longer period of time. After missing the last game due to personal reasons, Jasprit Bumrah’s availability is still unknown.
In Bumrah’s absence, Arshdeep Singh made a comeback with a player-of-the-match performance in Dharamsala greatly complimented by Harshit Rana. The five-match series is now 2-1 in India’s favor.
So far throughout the series, fortunes have fluctuated greatly. In the lung-opener, India prevailed and the South Africans appeared utterly disoriented, but in the subsequent game, the roles were flipped.
South Africa would be keen to win on Wednesday to maintain the series after being soundly defeated twice already. The Proteas have lost 18 of the 28 games in the shortest format since the T20 World Cup final in June of last year, underscoring a protracted period of inconsistency.
The South African squad management is still looking for a settled combination. The players’ lack of rhythm as a result of the frequent chopping and shifting has ultimately cost them numerous games.
Before its T20 World Cup opening match on February 9, the runners-up team from the previous edition has five games left to finalize the playing XI: two against India and three at home against the West Indies. It remains to be seen if the Proteas continue to rotate at the price of performance.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Shahbaz Ahmed, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (w/k), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (w/k), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar
South Africa: Aiden Markram (Captain), Quinton de Kock (w/k), 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
