Veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane has pointed out that how Suryakumar Yadav bats in the Asia Cup 2025 will be more important for the Indian team than his captaincy. Suryakumar Yadav will captain India in the continental tournament that begins on September 9 in the UAE.
Suryakumar is coming off a surgery for a sports hernia and hasn’t played any cricket going into the Asia Cup 2025. For the past few years, Surya has been India's most impressive hitter in the shortest format. But when India last played T20Is against England, Suryakumar managed just 28 runs in 5 T20Is, including a few ducks.
He recovered with a fantastic IPL season, playing as a specialist batsman and amassing 717 runs, the most he has ever scored in his 13-year IPL career.
In his appreciation of Surya's tenacity, Rahane pointed out that he bounced back from a disappointing England series to finish as the second-highest run scorer in the IPL with five fifties. The veteran of Test cricket praised Surya's skill in the format and asked how he would fare after his latest surgery.
"Didn't have a good series against England, but came back to form in IPL with five fifties and finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament with a healthy strike rate. We all know Surya is a dangerous batter. In this format, he has done really well. But it will be interesting to see how he goes about his batting, especially after the surgery," Rahane said on his YouTube channel.
Since he has become India’s T20I captain, Suryakumar has been excellent with the bat. In 23 matches as captain, he has guided India to 18 victories against just 4 defeats and 1 tie, achieving an outstanding win percentage of 78.26 percent.
"As a captain, he has been fantastic. He is a proactive captain and led the team really well in the past, but I feel, in this Asia Cup, his batting will be really important," he added.
India has been placed in Group A with Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE in the Asia Cup 2025 and will open their tournament against the UAE on September 10, then will face Pakistan on September 14 and Oman on September 19.
