The captain of white-ball in India, Suryakumar Yadav has acknowledged that he is not finding it easy to be consistent in the various formats. The Indian star disclosed that he would like to be mentored by the South African legend, AB de Villiers who had managed to conquer T20I as well as ODI cricket with commendable equilibrium.
Suryakumar, who is a fashionable in his stroke play is in a very difficult period of his career. His recent batting has however been wanting even after leading India to the Asia cup 2025 title. He has only reached the 30-run mark in his final 9 T20I innings, and four single-digit performances, and one duck.
Suryakumar Struggles to Strike a balance between ODI and T20I.
Suryakumar has done well in T20Is but has been unable to cope with the pace of ODI cricket. He has a score of 773 runs with an average of 25.76 in 35 ODI innings to date which is way out of his T20 standards.
He has not been playing an ODI since 2023 and now wishes to learn how to play both formats efficiently with AB de Villiers.
In an interview with journalist Vimal Kumar on YouTube, Suryakumar stated:
In case I encounter AB in the near future, I will inquire him how he was able to balance his T20I and ODI games. I haven’t been able to do it. I believed that ODIs ought to be performed in the manner of T20Is. I would seek to enquire what he did differently to make it in both formats.
Speaking to journalist Vimal Kumar on YouTube, Suryakumar said:
“If I meet AB soon, I’ll ask him how he managed to balance his T20I and ODI games. I haven’t been able to do it. I thought ODIs should be played like T20Is. I want to ask him what he did differently to succeed in both formats.”
The 35-year-old added:
“AB, if you are listening to this, please get in touch with me quickly. The next three or four years are very important for me. I’m very eager to play ODIs again. Please help me — I couldn’t balance T20Is and ODIs.”
The roles played by Washington Sundar who hit 49 without being beaten and 3 wickets by Arshdeep Singh were crucial in the victory. There was also a powerful impact of the resurgence of Jitesh Sharma who made a quick 22 not out.
The victory gave Suryakumar a lot of compliments to the team: Those boys were working so hard and biding their time. Washi was very flexible, Jitesh was a good contributor and Arshdeep was excellent. It seemed to me the proper mixture to-night.
Morkel Underlines on Flexibility of World Cup 2026.
In the meantime, the Indian bowling coach, Morne Morkel, emphasized the aspect of flexibility as the team gear up to the 2026 ICC T20 world cup. Morkel is of the opinion that India success will be determined by the rate at which players will adapt to various roles and match scenarios.
You must have several choices to make. All best teams are experimenting with combinations. Flexibility is central in contemporary cricket, said Morkel.
