Follow UsIndia have been playing a fearless brand of T20 cricket under Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership, but the skipper himself has been struggling to find runs.
The Mumbai batter, who finished as the second-highest run-getter in IPL 2025, hasn’t been able to mirror that form in national colours. In 12 T20Is this year, Suryakumar has managed just 100 runs at an average of 11.11 - without a single half-century to his name.
With the 2026 T20 World Cup fast approaching, the 34-year-old will be desperate to rediscover his touch in the upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia, starting October 29 (Wednesday) in Canberra.
“I feel like I've been working really hard,” Suryakumar said ahead of the opener, as quoted by the Times of India.
“It's not that I wasn't working hard before, I was doing it then also. I've had good sessions back home and good few sessions here so I am in good space, that is really important. Runs will come eventually but working hard towards the team goal is important.”
The 2026 T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, and despite the vastly different conditions in Australia, SKY revealed that the team’s combinations and approach will be shaped with the mega event in mind.
“There is not much change in combination. Last time when we went to South Africa, there also we played with one fast bowler, one all-rounder and three spinners. So conditions are similar - bouncy tracks,” he explained.
“We are not looking like we have come to a foreign country to play. So we will see this series in a different way. We will look at it in the same way. It’s a build-up to the World Cup.”
“Our preparation (for T20 World Cup 2026) obviously started with the Asia Cup. Because since then we started playing T20s. And it will continue like this.”
After a disappointing 2-1 loss in the ODI series, India will hope to bounce back strongly in the shortest format.