"Acceptable To Fail": Gautam Gambhir Ready To Excuse T20I Captain Suryakumar Yadav's Bad Form. Reason Is This
India head coach Gautam Gambhir has made his feelings clear on Suryakumar Yadav's rough patch with the bat in international cricket.
- India head coach Gautam Gambhir is willing to excuse T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav's bad form
- "Surya's batting form doesn't concern me because we have committed to an ultra-aggressive template": Gambhir
- "We have collectively decided that it's acceptable to fail while pursuing this approach": Gambhir
Suryakumar Yadav hasn't been in the best of form when it comes to international cricket for quite some time. Despite being named India's T20I captain last year, Suryakumar has largely failed to replicate the batting heroics of players like Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson. Once ranked as the No. 1 T20I batter in the world for nearly two years, Suryakumar has now fallen to eighth. However, India head coach Gautam Gambhir is seemingly happy to excuse his captain's lack of runs.
In a recent interaction, Gambhir defended Suryakumar's drought, stating that he is willing to accept it due to India's aggressive brand of T20I cricket.
"Honestly, Surya's (Suryakumar Yadav's) batting form doesn't concern me because we have committed to an ultra-aggressive template in our dressing room. When you embrace this philosophy, failures are inevitable," Gambhir said, in a conversation with JioStar.
"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," Gambhir stated.
Gambhir reiterated Team India's commitment to their style of cricket, and expressed confidence in Suryakumar regaining form.
"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," Gambhir said.
Suryakumar, incidentally, enjoyed his most successful Indian Premier League (IPL) season with the bat in IPL 2025, during which he slammed 717 runs in just 16 games at a strike rate of nearly 168.
However, Suryakumar failed to carry that form into the Asia Cup 2025. Despite leading India to glory, Suryakumar managed only 72 runs in seven matches, at a strike rate of just over a run-a-ball.
Gautam Gambhir
India Cricket Team