Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has showered praise on Suryakumar Yadav’s impressive captaincy record in T20Is. The fourth T20I between India and South Africa at Lucknow was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to excessive fog.
India has won 24 out of the 28 T20I matches under Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership and has a win percentage of 85%. Team India has been in sensational form in the shortest format and have ticked the right boxes after the T20 World Cup 2024 under SKY’s captaincy.
“That’s why I say repeatedly that we don’t celebrate Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy as much as we should. We have celebrated his batting a lot. He definitely lacks form in batting currently, but this 83% result in captaincy is extremely special,” Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel.
“Not all T20 captains are able to do this. So, very well done to Suryakumar, and it’s not like South Africa didn’t put pressure. They put pressure in this series. You made a comeback in the last match after being put under pressure,” he added.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t scored a fifty in 2025 and has been struggling with his form. Pathan noted that opposition’s bowlers are bowling slow against SKY and he has to counter this tactic.
“What has been Suryakumar’s strength? He plays very well square of the wicket. He doesn’t move his feet much against fast bowlers. Teams are trying to work him out a little more. They are not bowling at one pace. They are using the slower ones a lot. So he has to counter that,” he responded.
The former swing bowler urged SKY to wait a bit longer at the crease before playing his favorite shots.
“Secondly, a pattern is being seen that he is going to his favorite shots too much and too early. Can he wait a little longer before playing his favorite shots? Play straight for some time. You might ask him to take his feet forward against fast bowlers. He hasn’t done that for so many years. How will he do it now as the World Cup is about to come?” Pathan elaborated.
The fifth and final T20I between India and South Africa will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Friday.
