Suryakumar’s batting form doesn’t concern me: Gautam Gambhir backs T20I captain

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir is not perturbed by T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s poor form as “failures are inevitable” when the team is focused on playing an ultra-aggressive brand of cricket.

While India won the Asia Cup tournament last month in the UAE under his captaincy, Suryakumar’s own form with the bat left a lot to be desired as he managed just 72 runs in seven innings.

However, he has now found backing from the team’s head coach.

“Honestly, Surya’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 during a discussion on JioHotstar.

“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,” he added.

Even as Surya was struggling with the willow, the likes of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma lit up the tournament with their explosive batting.

Gambhir said the focus is not on individuals but on the team as a whole.

“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.

During the interaction, Gambhir spoke about his vision for building a fearless team culture, and his partnership with Suryakumar.

“Surya is a great human being, and good humans make good leaders. While he speaks highly of me, my role is simply to advise him fairly based on my reading of the game. Ultimately, this is his team.

“His free-spirited character perfectly matches T20 cricket’s essence, it’s about freedom and expression. Your off-field personality reflects on the field and in the dressing room, and Surya has maintained this atmosphere brilliantly over the past 1.5 years,” Gambhir said.

“From our first conversation, we agreed: we will not fear losing. I don’t aim to be the most successful coach; I want us to be the most fearless team,” the head coach said.

Gambhir admitted that his players are bound to make mistakes as they seek to become a fearless outfit. “In big games like the Asia Cup final, I told the players it’s okay to drop a catch, play a bad shot, or bowl a poor delivery. Human beings make mistakes. Only the opinions of those in the dressing room matter. Surya and I consistently agree: we will never fear mistakes. The bigger the game, the more fearless and aggressive we must be. A conservative approach only gives the opposition an advantage. With the talent we have, if we play fearlessly, we will be fine,” Gambhir said.

India beat Pakistan in the final to win the Asia Cup.