Suryakumar scored more than 700 runs in the IPL 2025 season for the Mumbai Indians; however, his form for the national side has been dismal, and he is averaging less than 15 in T20Is this calendar year.

In the third T20I against South Africa, Suryakumar once again fell prey to his favourite pick-up shot. The batter was trying to go for a maximum over the fine leg fence; however, he failed to get any sort of timing, and Ottneil Baartman completed a simple catch off the bowling of Lungi Ngidi.

As soon as the 35-year-old got out, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar didn’t mince his words as he gave a piece of advice, saying Suryakumar should look to keep the pickup shot in the “cold storage” for now and wait for the right moment to unleash it.

“It has been a very, very productive shot for him. Now, when you are not in form, it’s only gone up in the air instead of going the distance, and well inside the boundary. So maybe, until he starts to get going, he should look to keep that shot in cold storage,” Gavaskar said on commentary.

“Because it’s getting him out and India doesn’t require Suryakumar Yadav scoring only 12 runs,” he added.

Suryakumar has now gone 21 innings without hitting a half-century for India in T20Is, and the need of the hour is for the Indian captain to find form ahead of the all-important T20 World Cup, set to be played in India and Sri Lanka in February-March next year.

India gain 2-1 lead in the five-match series

In the third T20I, India bundled out South Africa for 117 after opting to bowl. Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh all returned with two wickets each. Aiden Markram, the Proteas skipper, hit a half-century and was the lone fighter for the visitors.

India then chased the total down with seven wickets in hand and 25 balls to spare as Abhishek Sharma and Gill returned with knocks of 35 and 28, respectively.

The fourth T20I between India and South Africa will now be played on Wednesday, December 17, at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.