India might have won the five-match series against South Africa 3-1 at home, but there are some major glaring areas that the hosts need to fix ahead of the all-important T20 World Cup, set to be played in February-March 2026. Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian skipper, didn't paint himself in glory with the bat in this calendar year, failing to hit a single fifty. The 35-year-old, once regarded as one of the best T20 batters around the world, averaged less than 14 in 2025, marking the darkest chapter in his career to date.
After winning the fifth and final T20I against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Suryakumar addressed his own form, saying he would be back stronger.
“Maybe the only thing we couldn’t quite manage was finding Surya the batter, I think he went missing somewhere! (smiles) But he’ll be back stronger. As a team, I’m really happy,” Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation.
“Whenever we were in trouble, someone always put their hand up and pulled us through. As captain, that’s very satisfying with the way this series went for us,” he added.
In 2025, Suryakumar's highest score was 47 not out, which came against Pakistan in the group stage match of the Men's Asia Cup in September. Even the strike rate was not something to boast about as the right-hander scored his runs at 117.87. In the 20 matches he played this year, Suryakumar managed just 218 runs, and overall, he has gone 22 innings without scoring more than 50 runs.
The India skipper did have an exceptional IPL season for the Mumbai Indians, where he smashed 717 runs; however, he was not able to replicate the form for India in T20Is, and one would hope that he comes into form in the last assignment before the World Cup - the five-match series against New Zealand.
‘Wanted to play certain brand of cricket’
{{/usCountry}}The India skipper did have an exceptional IPL season for the Mumbai Indians, where he smashed 717 runs; however, he was not able to replicate the form for India in T20Is, and one would hope that he comes into form in the last assignment before the World Cup - the five-match series against New Zealand.
‘Wanted to play certain brand of cricket’
{{/usCountry}}In the fifth and final T20I, Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma cracked half-centuries, helping the hosts post 231 runs on the board. This total proved to be enough for the hosts as they registered a comfortable 30-run win.
Suryakumar said that his team wanted to play a certain brand of cricket and he's quite happy that they were able to achieve it against South Africa.
“Yeah, I mean, from the start of the tournament, we wanted to play a certain brand of cricket. I am happy that we did exactly that. We didn’t try to do anything different. We wanted to express ourselves across all departments, and the results are right there for everyone to see,” said the Indian captain.
“Yeah, this is something we felt was missing in our last few series. This is exactly how we wanted to bat. Once someone gets going, they don’t stop. We wanted that relentless intent, and tonight it worked beautifully,” he added.