Former India and Mumbai batter Sanjay Manjrekar has urged fellow Mumbaikar and India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav to work on his fitness if the latter is ever to find his form back.
Manjrekar said that Yadav’s age was eventually catching up to him, and the onus was on the Mumbai Indians star batter to regain his form by working on his fitness first. Yadav is currently 35 years old.
When ‘SKY’ first broke onto the scene, his USP was his ability to play shots in the inverted ‘V’ (i.e., from point to square leg via third man and fine leg). Naturally, this bore comparisons to the other 360° player, AB de Villiers.
Suryakumar Yadav turned the ‘supla’ (a pick-up shot over fine leg) into a trademark stroke, and that had turned him into one of the best T20 players of the early 2020s. Now, though, his form has been waning not just in international cricket, but in the IPL as well.
Suryakumar Yadav’s form in IPL 2026
Yadav has stood in for Hardik Pandya as the Mumbai Indians captain in two matches this year. But that has not helped at all. In all, he has just 195 runs in 10 matches at an average of less than 20 and a strike rate of around 146.
He has made just one fifty this year, with a high score of 51. While Suryakumar Yadav’s T20I form has been on the down low since November 2024, his IPL form didn’t seem to suffer. In IPL 2025, he made more than 717 runs in 16 matches, an MI record for most runs in a single IPL season. He crossed 25 in every match and set a world record.
If you don’t take care of your fitness, you will be exposed- Sanjay Manjrekar
Manjrekar was talking on Sportstar’s ‘Insight Edge’ podcast and said that Suryakumar Yadav needed to keep his fitness and form sharp in his late 30s. He said that the physical attributes were troubling him.
“I don’t think he is as fit as he was 5 or 6 years back. I mean, he’s older, but fitness-wise, I don’t think he is. If you get on the wrong side of 30, then if you don’t take care of your fitness too much, this game is so ruthless, it will start exposing you, because those things that you take for granted, seeing the ball, and hitting all these shots, they’ll start, sort of, just find it more difficult to pull those shots off,” Manjrekar said.
“I’m certain about one thing: his fitness is not what it should be. If I were this personal coach, I would only get him to get your lighter on his feet. stronger, and spend time there, rather than practising all the time because that’s his game as well.”
Suryakumar Yadav should learn from Virat Kohli- Sanjay Manjrekar
Manjrekar then went on to say that Suryakumar Yadav should take Virat Kohli’s example and learn from the RCB stalwart. Manjrekar cited how Kohli was able to drastically change his game in his late 30s, mainly because of fitness.
“Take a leaf out of Virat Kohli’s book. Virat is not in his early 30s; he is, and he has had tough times in T20 cricket. But look at him this season. And what is the one difference in the fitness of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Virat Kohli? I’m telling you, honestly, all the other things are there with him”.
Surya has that body of experience. Over the years, he has learned how to get runs. He’s seen success, so the mental side of things is there. Just get your body to support your intent. And I thought Rohit Sharma, as well, fell off and waned off because he didn’t take care of his fitness as much as he should. He just made things a little more difficult,” said Manjrekar.
“I see that with Surya as well. So, you’re going to take your fitness levels to the next. I mean, go into extreme fitness, as Virat does. I’ve said this before as well. When Virat gets any success, the 1st thing he attributes it to is his physical fitness.”
“For Surya, this is the only thing: okay, he can make his journey much simpler going forward if he just focuses on his physical factors. The mental side of things will take care of itself,” he added.
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