Out-of-form Suryakumar Yadav told to take leaf out of Virat Kohli's MCG knock vs Pakistan; ‘he's hardly played in the V’

Suryakumar Yadav should take a leaf out of Virat Kohli's match-winning knock against Pakistan in 2022 T20 World Cup and play more with the full face of the bat, felt former Mumbai and Railways wicketkeeper Sulakshan Kulkarni. Once known to be a nightmare for the opposition bowlers, the Indian captain's form with the bat hit rock bottom in the past two years.

His trademark scoop over fine-leg, off-side slice, lofted inside-out drive, deep-square leg flick, have all been there, but of late, Suryakumar hasn't been the best version of himself. With the T20 World Cup 2026 just less than a month away, Suryakumar's form is certainly a big area of concern for head coach Gautam Gambhir and the team management.

Kulkarni, who knows about Suryakumar's game more than anyone else, wants the Indian skipper to make some tactical changes to his batting. Instead of using the bowler's pace, Suryakumar should use his force more on the shots. “His thinking is to use the fast bowler's speed,” Kulkarni told Livemint in an exclusive interaction on Thursday.

“When you are playing in the 'V' region, a batter is using double force. But Surya's thinking is instead of forcing the bowler, 'I will use the bowler's pace and hit over the wicketkeeper or in the fine leg or the third man, etc,'” added Kulkarni, who is currently the deputy head coach of Oman.

Since India's T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, Suryakumar has scored fifty-plus scores only on two occasions. In fact, his last half-century came against Bangladesh in 2024, in Hyderabad. Since then, his major batting highlight was an unbeaten 47 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup in 2025.

According to Kulkarni, Suryakumar should play more on the 'V' region (the area formed by the arc between mid-on and mid-off). “He has got tons of runs playing against the fast bowlers, especially that behind-the-wicket shot and square of the wicket. If you look at his overall wagon wheel, he has hardly played in front i.e. in the ‘V’ shape,” observed Kulkarni.

“The more you play with the full face of the bat, the lesser is the chance of getting out. The first 10 balls, he can play in the 'V' shape and get the feel of the ball. In his last 10-12 innings, he got out to fast bowlers at the fine leg, third man and square leg regions,” stated Kulkarni, who has previously coached Tamil Nadu and Mumbai at the domestic level.

“As far as Surya's batting is concerned, he should spend a bit more time in the middle. He is getting out in the first 10 or 12 balls. The greatest Viv Richards also used to spend some time initially. Then Virat Kohli also spends some time even if he plays T20s. These kind of strategy Surya should use," added Kulkarni. "He is playing his shots too early.”

Having already confessed about his poor form publicly, Suryakumar knows "where things are going wrong”. With the five-match T20I series being India's last chance to fine-tune their T20 World Cup preparations, the Indian captain will aim to return to his form before leading his country for the first time at the world stage.