Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa warned head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav about overdoing the flexibility within the batting order ahead of the T20 World Cup next year. The Men in Blue have been in incredible T20I form since Gambhir took over, winning 23 out of their 26 completed games.Yet, the side was in trouble in the first T20I of the ongoing series against South Africa at 78/4 in the 12th over. But Hardik Pandya saved India from the blushes with a swashbuckling 28-ball 59* under pressure.Talking about India constantly chopping and changing their batting order in T20Is, Uthappa said on his YouTube channel (45:25):"If this goes south, it'll backfire on both Surya and Gautam Gambhir. And people are anyway gunning for his (Gambhir )head. You can't go into a World Cup as the defending champions with your main batters not in good form. In the first T20I, Hardik saved the skins out of India's innings. If it wasn't for him, we would have been 30-40 runs off that total and that's a 130. Those things concern me."Uthappa specifically pointed to Surya's poor T20I form and how it could eventually impact him and the side."Today it's not affecting him because India is winning matches. He's one of the most successful Indian captain right now with an 85 win percentage. But if that drops over the next nine games, then it starts impacting his batting and it starts impacting how he leads on the field as well. India is leading into a World Cup at home where you want to have your main batters in really good form, especially when you are defending champions," he said.Surya has been in horrific form in T20Is this year, averaging 15.07 at a strike rate of 126.45 in 18 outings."You need to have at least your top three really settled in" - Robin UthappaRobin Uthappa dismissed the idea of Suryakumar Yadav moving up and down the batting order in T20Is, calling for a settled top three. The 35-year-old has constantly shuffled between No. 3 and 4 with the occasional drastic move down the order this year."I am a little sceptical about that. I actually feel you need to have at least your top three really settled in. One of the reasons Surya hasn't performed as well as he has for the Mumbai Indians or before he started moving up and down the order is because there is no settled position. Yes, in T20 cricket, after the first six overs, you have to be super flexible. But in those first six overs, if a wicket falls, your No. 3 has to be a set piece. It cannot be a moving piece," said Uthappa (via the aforementioned source).He continued:"A player of Surya's calibre must be given the clarity that he's the No. 3 and will bat at No. 3 if a wicket falls in the first five overs. Unless the batters get off to a flyer and we don't lose a wicket in the first seven overs, and then a lefty gets out, then we send in Tilak to continue to up the ante, or Shivam Dube if the spinners are coming on.""People can say this is how cricket is played these days. But the preparation of a batter doesn't change. Your mindset on how you approach batting in a particular position doesn't change. If I've to get into the mindset of a batter who doesn't know where he is going to bat, that's something I wouldn't want one of the best batters in the world in T20 cricket (Surya) to be doing."Surya is yet to score a single half-century in his 16 T20I innings this year, following a predominantly poor 2024 season, where he averaged under 27 in 18 matches.