“In T20 cricket, you don't have to aim for consistency” - Ravi Ashwin opens up on Suryakumar Yadav’s form

Former Indian spinner and analyst Ravi Ashwin has lauded the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav’s approach in the first T20I of the ongoing five-match series against New Zealand, in Nagpur on Wednesday, January 21.

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Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Ashwin asserted that in the shortest format of the game, batters don’t need to aim for consistency, adding that Suryakumar looked in his element, which is a big positive moving into the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. 

Coming in to bat at 18/1 in the second over of the first innings, Surya went on to score 32 runs off 22 balls with four fours and a six at a strike rate of 145.45. Notably, SKY entered this innings on the back of a poor average in the 2025 calendar year.

"It is a monkey of the back. A lot of people were talking about Suryakumar's batting and his form and all of that. In all honesty, in T20 cricket, you dont have to aim for consistency. What I liked that he got those runs, he looked in good touch today. If a batter wants to look to get runs, they would have looked to get a fifty. But Surya did not do that. This team has a theme they will look to keep scoring and hitting. He looked in his element. He looked good and this is a big positive for him," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Furthermore, Ashwin felt the combination played in the first T20I against the BlackCaps would most likely be the XI in the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. He also added that the team management is backing Shivam Dube’s bowling, as seen in the first T20I.

"I think this will be the team. There will not be many changes. I don't know if you should rotate Arshdeep and bring in Harshit. You should keep Arshdeep in T20s. He is a marquee bowler. There is no chance to leave him. Maybe there will surely be a conversation to bring in a bowler seeing how Dube's bowling goes. But he got three overs today. So they are backing his bowling and I think there are conversations around him bowling. This is probably the combination,” he added.

Delving into the details of the first T20I, India posted a dominating total of 238/7, thanks to Abhishek Sharma's 84-run knock. In response, New Zealand could score only 190/7 in 20 overs, losing the game by 48 runs.

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