India Coach's Plea: Why Shubman Gill Must Unleash His IPL Batting Style

In the second T20I, Gill bagged a golden duck, while Suryakumar made just five as India lost to South Africa by 51 runs. The last time Gill and Suryakumar hit fifties in T20Is, it was more than 12 months ago.

"I think taking on the captaincy, the way he did in England and how well he led and how much pride he took in that performance, I think an element of that carried over into what he wanted to do in the T20 side. So anything he was too caring and maybe a little bit tight and towards the back end of Australia (tour), the talks were around him freeing up a little bit more.

"You do know trying to relinquish that responsibility certainly in that capacity where you feel like it's all about you and you really need to justify your place in the team. We don't want him to do that. We want him to play as freely as he does during IPL seasons," ten Doeschate said to reporters at the conclusion of the game.

Asked about Suryakumar's prolonged lean run, ten Doeschate said, "It's exactly the same with Surya. You mentioned the leadership roles and we are quite far down the road now with our planning and how we have set the team up."

"If you are going to be India's number three, there is pressure on you to score runs. There has been a fairly long string of form now where he hasn't got the scores we like. But in isolation, we are certainly not worried about it. Batting at three again, the job we want from him is to go out there and attack.

"Personally, I think you back quality players and quality leaders like that, and they will come good. I can understand from the outside it looks like a concern, but I have got absolute faith in both of them coming good at the right time for us."

The five-game T20I series between India and South Africa, currently at 1-1, will now move to Dharamsala for the third game to be played at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday.

- IANS