IND vs SA 2025: ‘He really needs some runs under his belt’ – Varun Aaron on star batter ahead of 5th T20I

While Suryakumar Yadav has yet to lose a T20I series as India’s captain, his performances with the bat have been ordinary this year. However, former India pacer Varun Aaron believes that if the Mumbai batter gets among the runs in the fifth T20I against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, December 19, it will do a world of good to his confidence.

In the first three T20Is against the Proteas, the 35-year-old scored just 29 runs at an average of 9.67 and a strike rate of 111.54. Aaron also mentioned that India’s vice-captain, Shubman Gill, will also want to score some runs in the fifth T20I.

During an interaction on the Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues,’ Aaron was asked what Suryakumar would be focusing on in the all-important clash in Ahmedabad on Friday.

“I think Suryakumar Yadav is going to be focusing on getting runs because he really needs some runs under his belt. If Suryakumar Yadav scores runs, there will be a huge change in confidence because runs haven’t come from his bat for a long time, and even from Shubman Gill’s bat,” he responded.

“These two are key batters in our setup when we talk about the T20 World Cup, and if they score runs, the Indian team will remain absolutely bullet-proof,” Aaron observed.

Aaron said that Suryakumar isn’t totally out of form, mentioning his performance for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where the right-handed batter scored 165 runs from five innings at an average of 41.25 and a strike rate of 139.83.

“It’s not like Suryakumar Yadav is totally out of form. If you see his Mushtaq Ali numbers, he had an average of 41 and a healthy strike rate there. I feel he is just one inning away from finding his form,” he stated.

Suryakumar Yadav will come good at the right time: Varun Aaron

Aaron praised Suryakumar’s captaincy skills, saying that it isn’t easy to achieve the kind of results he has, even after the retirements of stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

“If you have an 83 percent win record as a captain, you know that you are doing a lot of things right, especially after two of your main players retire. The stalwarts of Indian cricket were not in your T20 squad anymore and you managed these kind of results,” he replied.

The cricketer-turned-expert backed the Mumbai-born to return to form at the correct time for the Men in Blue.

“It just shows that you have great cricket acumen and you also have the confidence of the boys. Yes, Suryakumar Yadav is not scoring the runs we would love him to score, but I think he will come good at the right time,” Aaron observed.