India, Feb. 15 -- If you are a batter, what would you take -- being out of form, or being out of runs? How do you make that distinction? What is it that defines form other than runs? Can one be independent of the other?

Suryakumar Yadav stoked a gentle debate last year when he insisted more than once that he was not out of form, just out of runs. In an oblique, roundabout sort of way, what he was trying to convey made sense. He was hitting the ball when in the nets, he was moving nicely, he was mentally in a good headspace, but when it came to a match situation, the runs would simply not come. The first mistake invariably ended up being his last.

To say that 2025 was Suryakumar's annus horribilis will be an understatement. The No. 1 bat...