Gautam Gambhir breaks silence on Suryakumar Yadav's poor form ahead of Australia T20Is: ‘Acceptable to fail while…’

Hence, it is safe to say that there is worry surrounding the right-handed batter's form. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir played down all concerns, saying that failure is a part of the sport when someone prioritises the team's needs and adopts a high-risk approach.

Suryakumar finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, but his form in international games leaves a lot to be desired. Now, it would be interesting to see how he performs in the five-match series against Australia, beginning Wednesday, October 29.

“Honestly, Surya's batting form doesn't concern me because we have committed to an ultra-aggressive template in our dressing room. When you embrace this philosophy, failures are inevitable. It would be easy for Surya to score 40 runs off 30 balls and avoid criticism, but we have collectively decided that it's acceptable to fail while pursuing this approach,” Gambhir said in a conversation with JioStar.

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“Currently, Abhishek Sharma is in good form and has maintained it throughout the Asia Cup. When Surya finds his rhythm, he will shoulder the responsibility accordingly. In T20 cricket, our focus isn't on individual runs but on the brand of cricket we want to play. With our aggressive style, batters may fail more often, but impact ultimately matters more than mere runs,” he added.

SKY's equation with Gambhir

The former Indian opening batter also described Suryakumar as a “great human being” as he talked about why the right-hander has emerged as such a good leader in the shortest format.

Earlier this year, Suryakumar had also overseen India's 4-1 series victory against England in a five-match T20I series at home. However, his real test would be against Australia, as Mitchell Marsh's team has been on a sensational run lately.

“Surya is a great human being, and good humans make good leaders. While he speaks highly of me, my role is simply to advise him fairly based on my reading of the game. Ultimately, this is his team. His free-spirited character perfectly matches T20 cricket's essence, it's about freedom and expression,” said Gambhir.

“Your off-field personality reflects on the field and in the dressing room, and Surya has maintained this atmosphere brilliantly over the past 1.5 years. From our first conversation, we agreed: we will not fear losing. I don't aim to be the most successful coach; I want us to be the most fearless team," he added.

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