Follow UsIndia’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav is enduring a nightmare run with the bat, and his struggles only deepened in the second T20I against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 31 (Friday).
Coming in at No. 4 after the early dismissals of Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson, India desperately needed their skipper to steady the innings alongside the in-form Abhishek Sharma, who has been in sublime touch all year. But instead of leading a revival, SKY’s lean patch stretched further as he managed just 1 off 4 balls.
There was a brief moment of luck when Josh Inglis dropped a catch off Josh Hazlewood on the third delivery of his innings. But the reprieve didn’t last long. On the very next ball, Hazlewood produced a peach - a back-of-a-length delivery just outside off that angled in and then seamed away - squaring Suryakumar up completely. The edge flew straight to the wicketkeeper, ending another short and forgettable outing.
This was Suryakumar’s seventh single-digit score in T20Is this calendar year. Only Rohit Sharma (8 in 2022) has registered more single-digit scores as an Indian T20I captain in a single year. With eight more T20Is still to play in 2025, SKY could unfortunately surpass that unwanted record.
Most single-digit scores for an Indian captain in T20Is (calendar year):
8 – Rohit Sharma (2022)
7 – Suryakumar Yadav (2025)*
5 – Rohit Sharma (2024)
4 – Virat Kohli (2018)
Across 14 T20Is in 2025, Suryakumar has scored just 140 runs at an average of 14.00 and a strike rate of 113.82 - numbers that do not suit his lofty standards. For a batter once known to redefine T20 batting with innovation and consistency, this slump comes at the worst possible time, with the T20 World Cup fast approaching.