Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has backed India’s struggling T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav, urging the batter to have confidence in his own game as he prepares to lead the defending champions, India, at the T20 World Cup 2026.
Ponting admitted that Suryakumar has endured a difficult run with the bat over the past year. In 2025, Yadav managed just 218 runs from 19 innings at an average of 13.62 and a strike rate of 123.16.
"That is as big a surprise for me, just looking at his recent form. He is such a solid and consistent contributor for India in T20 cricket for a long time and just hasn't been able to find it of late," Yadav said on the ICC Review
"He is an interesting one because when I have seen him play his best, he has taken six or eight or 10 balls to get going and then just lets it all go," said Ponting.
Ponting advised the India captain to play his natural game and trust his instincts in order to rediscover his best form.
"That's what I would say to him. I would be saying, think about scoring runs, do not think about getting out."
"Trust yourself, back yourself. You are proven to be as good as anybody in the world in the T20 format and go and prove it to everybody once again," he said.
India are set to open their World Cup campaign on February 7, 2026.