India skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s lean patch in T20Is continued as he was dismissed for just 5 runs against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday (December 19).

Suryakumar’s batting numbers have fallen drastically ever since assuming the T20I captaincy. He has managed to score only 218 runs across 21 matches and 19 innings in 2025, averaging just over 13, with the best score of 47* to his credit.

Although India emerged victorious by 30 runs in Ahmedabad and clinched the five-T20I series 3-1, Suryakumar's dismal run became a topic of debate among the fans and experts. In fact, the captain delivered a blunt verdict about his own form after finishing the series with just 34 runs from four matches.

With the T20 World Cup 2026 around the corner and squad selection due for Saturday (December 20), Suryakumar vowed to bounce back stronger.

"Maybe the only thing we couldn’t quite manage was finding Surya the batter, I think he went missing somewhere! (smiles) But he’ll be back stronger. As a team, I’m really happy. Whenever we were in trouble, someone always put their hand up and pulled us through. As captain, that’s very satisfying with the way this series went for us," said Suryakumar at the post-match presentation.

India's batting was at its destructive best in the fifth T20I. While Sanju Samson (37 off 22) and Abhishek Sharma (34 off 21) set the platform with a quickfire 63-run stand, Hardik Pandya (63 off 25) and Tilak Varma (73 off 42) followed it up with brutal half-centuries as the hosts racked up a massive 231/5 in 20 overs.

Suryakumar said that this brand of cricket was missing in the last few series and he was happy to see it return in the final match of the series.

"Yeah, I mean, from the start of the tournament, we wanted to play a certain brand of cricket. I am happy that we did exactly that. We didn’t try to do anything different. We wanted to express ourselves across all departments, and the results are right there for everyone to see."

"Yeah, this is something we felt was missing in our last few series. This is exactly how we wanted to bat. Once someone gets going, they don’t stop. We wanted that relentless intent, and tonight it worked beautifully," Suryakumar remarked.

The Indian team will face New Zealand in a five-T20I series next month before entering the T20 World Cup 2026, slated to start on February 7.