Gautam Gambhir plays down concerns regarding Suryakumar Yadav’s T20I form

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir said he is not losing sleep over Suryakumar Yadav’s T20I form ahead of the five-match T20I series against Australia. Gambhir said the focus is not individuals and they want to get positive results as a team. The former Indian opener accepted that a batter is bound to fail as they have adopted an aggressive style of batting in the shortest format.

Yadav had failed to lead from the front in the Asia Cup as he could not deliver the goods with the bat. The right-hander could only manage 72 runs in six innings at an average of 18 and a strike rate of 101.40 in the continental tournament.

“Honestly, Surya’s batting form doesn’t concern me,” Gambhir said in the presser.

“We have committed to an ultra-aggressive template in our dressing room. It would be easy for Surya to score 40 runs off 30 balls and avoid criticism, but we have collectively decided that it’s acceptable to fail while pursuing this approach. Currently, Abhishek Sharma is in good form and has maintained it throughout the Asia Cup.”

“When Surya finds his rhythm, he will shoulder the responsibility accordingly. In T20 cricket, our focus isn’t on individual runs but on the brand of cricket we want to play. With our aggressive style, batters may fail more often, but impact ultimately matters more than mere runs,” he added.

Yadav has all the experience under his belt and he would look to deliver in the Australian conditions. The Mumbai batter has scored 2670 runs in 90 T20Is at an impressive average of 37.08 and a blistering strike rate of 164.20.

The first T20I between India and Australia will be played at Canberra on Wednesday.