Suryakumar taking it a bit too far: Manjrekar calls India captain's approach dangerous

T20 World Cup: Ahead of India's clash against South Africa in the Super 8, Sanjay Manjrekar criticised Suryakumar Yadav's batting approach in the tournament so far. Suryakumar has adopted a cautious approach during the tournament.

Suryakumar Yadav may be among the runs in T20Is in 2026, but Sanjay Manjrekar isn't a fan of the Indian captain's approach with the bat in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. As India look to defend their crown on home soil, Suryakumar and the hosts have seemingly gone back on their attacking template and have become more cautious with their approach.

IND vs SA, Super 8 Preview

The Indian skipper came in clutch for India during the USA game, taking his time with the bat in Mumbai to ensure the hosts survived a batting collapse against the associate nation. However, this template has continued in India's remaining group stage matches, with Suryakumar scoring 162 runs from four matches at a strike-rate of 136.13. While India has remained unbeaten in group games, Manjrekar said that the skipper is taking his defensive approach a bit too far at the moment.

The former cricketer feels that when Suryakumar tries to take the game deep, it doesn't allow for the proper utilisation of players like Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh.

“There's something I'm seeing in Suryakumar Yadav, which I'm not liking too much. 77 for 6, India against USA at Wankhede. And Suryakumar Yadav had to change his game, which he did brilliantly. Just slowed down a little bit and then exploded and got a great score, player of the match and everything. Since then, I think he's taking that a bit too far. Against Pakistan, when India lost a couple of wickets, he really pulled down the shutters quite a lot,” Manjrekar said in a video he shared on Instagram.

“He and Tilak Varma, both playing slightly conservatively. And in the end, what happens is people like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh are not really tapped into as resources as much. In T20 cricket, that's a dangerous thing to do, when a senior player or a captain feels that he's got to stay in, especially batting first,” he added.