Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav continued his lean run with the bat in the side's second Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash against Bangladesh in Dubai on September 24. Despite walking in to bat with India well-placed at 83/2 in 8.1 overs, Surya scratched around for 10 deliveries before being caught behind down the leg side for an 11-ball five. The 35-year-old has been in surprisingly poor form with the willow since becoming India's permanent T20I captain after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Surya has averaged under 20 with only two half-centuries in his last 20 T20Is, all as India's T20I skipper. With the T20 World Cup 2026 around the corner, the skipper's woeful form is one of India's only worries. Extending to even the start of the 2024 season, Surya has scored only four centuries in 28 games at an average of under 23 from then to now. Despite the poor recent numbers, Surya's form might not be concerning as fans and former players have portrayed it to be over the past few days. Here are three reasons why.#1 Surya's IPL 2025 season should reduce the sound of the alarm bellsAs disappointing as Suryakumar Yadav has been with the bat in T20Is since 2024, the right-hander has been anything but in the IPL over the same period. While his 345-run IPL 2024 season was moderately impressive, his exploits in this year's IPL were record-breaking. Surya achieved the improbable feat of scoring at least 25 in each of his 16 innings in IPL 2025. He enjoyed his best-ever IPL season, finishing with 717 runs at an average of 65.18 and a strike rate of 167.91, including five half-centuries. While his last few months on either side of the 2025 IPL season has been sub-par, the dry patch feels more like a coincidence than a lack of form. Furthermore, Indian fans can take solace from the fact that the 2026 T20 World Cup will be played on home conditions, which Surya dominated in the 2025 IPL.#2 Suryakumar Yadav's woeful recent numbers - A product of India's batting strategy Team India has embarked on a 360-degree transformation in strategy with the bat since the heartbreaking end to the 2022 T20 World. With batting depth and all-out attack taking precedence, the Men in Blue have achieved tremendous results in their last three white-ball ICC events. Those plans have been on steroids since Surya took over as captain, with Gautam Gambhir as head coach. India have banked heavily on boasting batting till No. 8, with all the batters looking to go big from the word go. With that comes the risk of frequent failures and lower averages, factors that should be ignored as a trade-off for overall team success. The Men in Blue should have no complaint from that perspective, with 17 wins in their last 20 T20Is since Surya took over as permanent captain. The star batter has also batted at No. 4 often during this stretch in the later overs to provide the flourishing Tilak Varma the opportunity to shine at No. 3. Surya averages a much better 28.75 at a strike rate of 165.14 when batting at one-drop since taking over as India's permanent T20I captain. Hence, India's willingness to sacrifice individual glory for team success has resulted in lower numbers and early dismissals for their skipper.#3 A definite blip more than a trendSuryakumar Yadav was on a remarkable and almost unsustainable pace in T20Is from the start of his career until 2023. In his first 60 T20I games from 2021 to 2023, the 35-year-old boasted video-game numbers with 2,141 runs at an average of 45.55 and a strike rate of 171.55, including four centuries and 17 half-centuries. The champion batter dominated the ICC rankings in the shortest format, becoming a mainstay at the top. Given his all-out attacking and unconventional batting style, a dip in form was inevitable. Furthermore, even in a period where his T20I numbers have fallen, his strike rate has remained impressive. Thus, after three years of unparalleled domination in T20Is, a year or two of mediocrity is par for the course in the ultimate lottery format, which is T20s. It is fair to conclude that Surya's unfathomable series of low scores has less to do with actual ball-striking form and more to do with the law of averages finally catching up to him in a format where no batter has ever escaped the odd lean patch.