Varun Aaron points out key reasons for Suryakumar's lean patch, gives him ideal batting position

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 21 : Former Indian cricketer Varun Aaron spoke on Indian T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav's lean patch, saying that it could be attributed to him using his lap shot "too early" and his struggles against deliveries where the bowlers take the pace off and further suggesting an ideal batting position for him going forward with the T20 World Cup in mind.
With 218 runs in 19 innings at a poor average of 13.62 and a strike rate of just 123.16 with no fifties last year, Surya heads into the new year with plenty of questions around his form, which has flown under the radar due to his excellent leadership as India has not dropped a series/tournament under his captaincy, including the Asia Cup.
However, this New Zealand series of five matches will give him a chance to rectify his wrongs, fine-tune his technique and showcase to the world the lethal T20I batter he has always been for most of his career.
Speaking on 'Game Plan', JioStar expert Varun said, "I think he is trying to play his lap shot too early. He is trying to take the ball from outside the off-stump and go to the on side too early. If you have a look at his dismissals through the last one year, I think, in India, his record has not been good because the wickets were a lot slower in India."
"A lot of the bowlers used a lot of pace-off balls. Amongst the eight times he has got out in the powerplay, four of them were to pace-off balls, and that's something which has plagued Surya through his career," Aaron added.
Varun said that even during the IPL, where he has mostly performed exceptionally as a part of the Mumbai Indians (MI), including a 717-run season last year, the Indian skipper has struggled against pace off deliveries and suggested that he could benefit from batting at number four, as he does for MI.
Even in the IPL, where his numbers are brilliant, the only blip we see on the radar of his strike rate is against pace-off. So I think Suryakumar Yadav should slot down to number five. It gives him more clarity because when you are batting at number and you are somebody like Suryakumar Yadav, you literally feel that you can do anything with the kind of game he has," he elaborated.
"The debate is number three or four. I personally prefer him batting at number four, what he does for the Mumbai Indians. The one common factor in all these deliveries (where he has scored runs) is that he is actually playing the ball where it is supposed to be played," he concluded.
Suryakumar has batted for India at number four in 52 matches and innings, scoring 1,657 runs at an average of 37.65 and a strike rate of 165.53, with three centuries and 13 fifties. His 31 innings at number three have yielded him 856 runs at an average of 32.92, a strike rate of almost 160, with a century and six fifties to his name.
Squads:

India Squad: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh

New Zealand Squad: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway(w), Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kristian Clarke, Zakary Foulkes.