Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel reckons Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav won’t need the entire series to return to form. Yadav scored a fine knock 32 runs off 22 balls in the opening T20I against New Zealand at Nagpur on Wednesday. Ahead of the ongoing series, SKY scored just 244 runs at an average of 12.84 in the last 22 innings and had a top score of 47.

SKY joined forces with opener Abhishek Sharma after India was in a spot of bother at 27-2 in the opening game but he played a decent knock and added 99 runs off 47 balls with the left-hander.

“You benefit a lot because you know that runs are coming from one end. Then you can take your time and Suryakumar Yadav needs to do that. Obviously, we talk about runs, but in these five T20I matches, Suryakumar needs to spend time in the middle,” Parthiv Patel said on Star Sports.

“He is himself saying that he is batting well. That means he is feeling good, but you need runs behind you. Once he plays 20 balls and 40 balls in the next match, then it does not take that much time for a batter of this quality. It doesn’t look like he needs the entire series to return to form. He needs just one inning and this is probably the start,” he added.

On the other hand, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said SKY should not doubt himself as many players go through rough patches at the top level.

“The way I have seen his career, he has been batting like this only. You go through such lean patches many times. You should never let it come into your mind whether you are capable enough or whether you are making some mistakes,” he said.

“You will make mistakes when you play and then learn. The way he batted, he is definitely going towards that form that Team India needs from him. When your form is bad, the captaincy decisions become problematic at times. I feel the graph will only go up from here,” Harbhajan observed.

The second T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Raipur on Friday.