Suryakumar has been struggling in T20I cricket for quite some time now. In 2025, he finished with a paltry average of 13.62 after playing 21 T20Is. Questions were asked about his place in the side after the long-term lean patch. However, his 22-ball 32 in the series opener against the Kiwis should do him a world of good.
Ashwin opined that consistency is not something batsmen strive for in T20 cricket. The 2011 ODI World Cup winner praised Suryakumar for following India’s team-over-individual template. Ashwin said that when a batsman is looking for runs, he will aim to score a half-century, but Suryakumar continued to hit the big shots without worrying about personal milestones.
“It’s a monkey from behind. A lot of people were talking about Suryakumar’s batting and his form and things like that. To be honest, in T20 cricket you don’t have to aim for consistency. What I liked was that he got those runs; he looked good today. If a batsman wanted to score runs, they would have looked at a fifty. But Surya didn’t do that. This team has a theme, they will try to keep scoring and batting. He looked in his He looked good and this is a big positive point for him,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin believes that the Indian team management is backing Shivam Dube’s bowling skills in T20 cricket. The Mumbai all-rounder bowled three overs in the first T20I and picked up two wickets.
“Maybe there will definitely be a conversation to bring in a bowler, seeing how (Shivam) Dube’s bowling goes. But he got three overs today. So they are backing his bowling, and I think there are conversations around him about bowling. This is probably the combination,” he added.
India amassed a huge total of 238/7 in the first innings after being invited to bat first. In reply, New Zealand could only manage 190/7, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
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