Kolkata, Dec. 21 -- Another T20I bilateral series win means India's preparation for the T20 World Cup couldn't probably get any better. Barring a few glaring misses though. Already set back by a few slow scores, a toe injury was probably the last thing Shubman Gill wanted right now, the selectors leaving him out of the squad for the February-March tournament named on Saturday. More baffling is the string of lean scores for skipper Suryakumar Yadav who ended the year without a fifty. It's not about the runs, but the form. However, in a format where runs must come fast and wickets are cheap, the threshold tends to be low. And Surya's form is hovering dangerously below that bar now. It's not just about his scoring, but the manner of his dismissals cause concern. Caught at the deep last time off his favourite leg ramp, then at mid-off trying to lift Corbin Bosch on Friday, Surya's stocks have slipped quite a bit for someone who once stood out in a pack of superstars against South Africa on a quick Perth pitch in the 2022 T20 World Cup. It's impossible to know if all this is weighing him down. India though have no option but to back Surya to come good. "I was just saying (to him) that just middle a few balls, just wait and be calm and take the few balls (to get set)," Tilak Varma said after Friday's win in Ahmedabad when asked about his conversations with Surya. Two favourable outcomes of this series have been the stupendous form of Varma and Hardik Pandya. Varma aggregated 187 runs at a strike rate of 131.69 and a reputation of being the alternate innings anchor should Surya keep floundering. That he can bat a gear down when needed was evident in how Varma started giving more strike to Pandya on Friday despite getting to his fifty in just 30 balls. Considering how Pandya was striking the ball though, that move was justified. A 28-ball 59 at Cuttack set us up for a series where Pandya was ready to raise his game. But the way he made South Africa bowlers look clueless at Ahmedabad indicated his intent to become an enforcer on a more regular basis. Not only did it lift the pressure off the rest of the middle order, Pandya's counterattack allows India to continue believing that Surya's lean form won't snowball into a match-altering factor. This, of course, doesn't include the flexibility Pandya's presence lends to the bowling. David Miller's wicket at Cuttack, Dewald Brevis at Ahmedabad - Pandya's contribution goes far beyond scoring runs. It is on these crucial contributions that a foundation of crafty and resilient T20 bowling has been built, one that has kept India in the hunt even when it seemed that a game was getting away from them. Ahmedabad was a closer affair than what the scoreboard suggested, but it was mainly due to Varun Chakravarthy's persistence despite being walloped for 23 runs in an over that India kept taking wickets to turn the corner. Adding to that was Jasprit Bumrah's unerring control that forced South Africa to go on the defensive after he got the all-important wicket of Quinton de Kock. Economy taken care of by Bumrah (4-0-17-2) and bulk of the wickets scalped by Chakravarthy (4/53), this pace-spin combination should keep opponents wary....