2 min readUpdated: Mar 7, 2026 11:13 AM IST
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, after playing a blistering knock on the opening night for India against the USA of 84 from 49 balls, has gone off the boil a bit. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra pointed out the unfair criticism Surya has been receiving, but also pointed out the Indian skipper’s poor form against big teams. The Mumbaikar scored 242 runs from eight games in the tournament, and altough has not scored big runs has chipped in with crucial cameos at different stages of the tournament.
“I think it’s slightly unfair at times. The opinions have become very sharp these days, and they start deep diving also. What goes in Surya’s favor is that he took India to a match-winning score from 77/6 in the first match. The 32-run knock against Pakistan came at a run-a-ball, but it was his best knock because that was required at that stage, or else India might not have been able to bat 20 overs,” Chopra responded to a question asked during his YouTube video.
“However, it’s true that he hasn’t scored too many runs against big teams. This is his fifth World Cup. He has scored only two half-centuries against top 10 teams, one against South Africa at Perth and one against Afghanistan in the last World Cup,” he added.
“Maybe in the final. His T20I career started from here only. He hit Jofra Archer for a six off his first ball with a Supla shot. So, hopefully, he will score a big one, although we saw him even demoting himself in the batting order in the last match as the spinners were bowling,” he said.
“That can happen in this match as well. It could be Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra or Cole McConchie, so you might ask Shivam Dube to go and take them down. So that can also happen. I am not saying that a 70-run knock needs to come, but a knock needs to come. That’s what I am hoping for,” Chopra observed.
