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Ravichandran Ashwin believes that the 32-run knock played by Suryakumar Yadav in the first T20I against New Zealand at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday, January 21, will give the Indian skipper a lot of confidence going forward.
Suryakumar has been struggling in T20I cricket for quite some time. In 2025, he finished with a paltry average of 13.62 after playing 21 T20Is. Questions were being asked about his place in the side after the prolonged lean patch. However, his 22-ball
32 in the series opener against the Kiwis should do him a world of good.
Ashwin opined that consistency isn't something that batters aim for in T20 cricket. The 2011 ODI World Cup winner lauded Suryakumar for following India's team-above-individual template. Ashwin said that when a batter is looking for runs, he will look to score a half-century, but Suryakumar continued hitting the big shots without worrying about personal milestones.
"It is a monkey off 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 don't have to aim for consistency. What I liked was 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.
Ashwin feels that the Indian team management is backing Shivam Dube's bowling skills in T20 cricket. The Mumbai all-rounder bowled three overs in the first T20I and bagged two wickets.
"Maybe there will surely be a conversation to bring in a bowler, seeing how (Shivam) 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.
India amassed a huge total of 238/7 in the first innings after being invited to bat first. In reply, New Zealand could only put up 190/7, handing the hosts a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
