Former World Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma has made a bold claim regarding his longtime teammate and India’s current T20I captainSuryakumar Yadav’s batting form. Rohit was talking about how Suryakumar’s batting is crucial for India. 

The Indian team is scheduled to face New Zealand in a five-match T20I series ahead of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2026, and all eyes will be on how their captain fares in the series, with him struggling for form. He had a horrid year with the bat in 2025, scoring only 218 runs at a poor average of 13.62 in 21 matches.

Rohit opened up on how the Men in Blue must have the 35-year-old return to form ahead of the tournament, and how it will affect the team’s batting.

“It’s not about the captain getting in form or not. If a player is not in form. The seven or eight batters we have, out of that, we are getting one less batter. The main batting power that we have, obviously, if you leave one out, then it will not be as effective as it should be. If Surya doesn’t play well, the batting lineup suffers,” said Rohit said on JioHotstar.

“I think Surya has a lot of understanding regarding the game and the players who are playing with him, how to get the best out of them,” said Rohit while praising Suryakumar’s man-management skills.

Watch the video here-

‘I feel he is putting too much pressure’ - Suryakumar receives support from Ajinkya Rahane 

Former Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane, too, opened up about the Mumbai batter’s struggle with the bat. The KKR captain reckoned that the swashbuckling batter is putting too much pressure on himself, rather than enjoying the game.

“He has been out of form recently, but I am really looking forward to seeing Surya coming back to form just before the World Cup. For Surya’s ability, those numbers are pretty low. I feel he is putting too much pressure on himself as a batter, trying to do too many things,” said Rahane.

The five-match series against the Blackcaps will be a perfect opportunity for the Indian captain to find rhythm and have some runs under his belt ahead of the mega event.