Committed to ultra-aggressive template, failures are inevitable: Gambhir on Suryakumar's form

New Delhi [India], October 27 (ANI): India head coach Gautam Gambhir isn't concerned about T20I captain Suyrakumar Yadav's dry run with the bat, considering they have adopted an "ultra-aggressive template" that is bound to lead to failures, and the management isn't focused on individual runs. For Gambhir, when Suryakumar finds his purple patch, he will shoulder the responsibility.

The management passed down the captaincy mantle to Suryakumar after Rohit Sharma hung up his boots in the T20Is following the conclusion of India's unbeaten T20 World Cup-winning campaign last year. With the captaincy responsibilities on his shoulders, the 34-year-old has played 22 matches, scoring 330 runs at an average of 18.33 while striking at 142.85.

Runs continued to elude Suryakumar's bat even during India's unbeaten run to the Asia Cup title last month. In six innings, the crafty swashbuckler churned out 72 runs at an underwhelming average of 18.00 while maintaining a strike rate of barely above 100.

While fans and former cricketers have voiced concerns about the Indian skipper's form, Gambhir came to Suryakumar's defence, highlighting the importance of impact over individual runs.

"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. 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," Gambhir said on JioHotstar.

"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," he added.

Suryakumar will look to find his lost mojo in the upcoming five T20Is against Australia, scheduled to begin on Wednesday at Manuka Oval in Canberra. The series will allow India to test its strength before defending their crown in next year's T20 World Cup on home soil.

India's T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar. (ANI)

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