1983 World Cup winner Kris Srikkanth voiced concerns over Suryakumar Yadav’s batting form following India’s Asia Cup victory. While Surya impressed with his leadership throughout the tournament, his returns with the bat told a different story. The stylish right-hander managed only 72 runs, crossing 20 just once — a fighting unbeaten 47 against Pakistan in the group stage.
The Indian T20I captain's performance in 2025 has been anything but impressive. He has only managed to score 100 runs in 11 innings, averaging just over 9. He has only managed 330 runs in 20 innings during his full tenure as captain, highlighting his ongoing batting difficulties.
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In the last four matches of the Asia Cup, he struggled to make an impact, returning scores of 0, 5, 12, and 1. While chasing a modest target of 147, Surya fell for just 1, leaving India in early trouble.
When evaluating India's batting following the Asia Cup final, former captain Srikkanth didn't hold back and made fun of the captain's subpar play. In addition to pointing out Shubman Gill's difficulties and saying Pakistan's batting collapse was even worse, he likened Surya's recurring low scores to a "pin code."
"Suryakumar Yadav let me down. His scores are like a pin code these days. Both batting lineups had several pin codes, with Pakistan being much worse, of course. But yes, Surya's form is very concerning, along with Shubman Gill," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
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He was blunt in his criticism of Shubman's T20 numbers and implied that he should be given more responsibility now that he is vice-captain.
"Shubman Gill doesn't look very deadly in the T20 format. He is fantastic in Tests and ODIs. Though they made him the vice-captain, with the World Cup coming up, we have to see what they do with him. He wasn't even in my team during the initial selection. But they made him the vice-captain as well," he added.
The former opener also noted that the current Indian side doesn't seem ready for the T20 World Cup next year, emphasizing that this lineup might find it difficult to handle the pressure and increased level of competition if the heavyweight teams join the battle.
"This team is not the right one for the T20 World Cup. It was enough for the below average sides in this tournament. But if we play with this team in the T20 World Cup, it'll be curtains for us," said Srikkanth.
