Former India batter turned analyst Mohammad Kaif has added that Suryakumar Yadav’s form is a bigger concern than Shubman Gill’s as well. His comments came after India’s 51-run loss in the second T20I against South Africa on December 11 in Mullanpur as well.

Mohammad Kaif said: “The biggest concern between Gill and Surya is Surya. You can find a replacement for Gill; if Gill is out, you can bring in Sanju or call Jaiswal later. But Surya is going to play no matter what. Even if he performs poorly, you will not remove Surya and bring in another captain. That issue does not exist with Gill; if you drop Gill, you can replace him with another player. But Surya will stay. He is the one who will lead you in the World Cup.”

“That is why Surya has become a bigger concern. His form matters because you have to play the World Cup in a month and a half, and Surya is a big match T20 player. He is also the captain. To win a World Cup, his form is essential. When a captain is scoring runs, his mind works better too. Remember, with good form, you also become a better captain. This is the connection with form. So I feel Surya’s return to form is absolutely necessary,” he further added.

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However, Mohammad Kaif also shared that, seeing the last two T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav tends to hit at deliveries outside off stump. Kaif also added that if he were playing Test cricket, he would likely get out in the same way Virat Kohli used to as well.

Kaif said: “How will he do that? Look at the issues. Take the last two matches for example. How did he get out? In Cuttack, Ngidi bowled a ball on his leg side. Anything coming toward his pads or leg side area, he flicks. We always praise Surya, saying no one plays the flick better. But as soon as the ball was swung from outside off toward that same area, he tried to play the leg side shot, got stuck, and the ball popped up.”

“In yesterday’s match, look at the ball outside off. He poked at it and got out. His problem is poking at deliveries outside off stump. If Surya played Test cricket, the way we always talk about Virat Kohli getting caught in slips outside off, Suryakumar would also be dismissed the same way. He too has a bottom hand dominant technique, he plays mostly on one side. Bowl outside off, he chases it,” he added.

“Somewhere, technically, because he plays T20 and because he plays on very flat pitches, his weaknesses do not get exposed as much. But if you take just the last two matches, both times he got out on deliveries outside off. One was full, one was hard length. Sometimes, when you get a break, you need to use that time to work on technique. We have seen many times in the IPL that no one is a better leg side player than him. So now he has to work on this,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.