Suryakumar Yadav is arguably the best T20I player in modern-day cricket. He has the ability to decimate any bowling attack with his wide range of shots that cover every single corner of a cricket ground. After years and years of grinding in the domestic circuit and in the Indian Premier League, the Mumbai batter got an opportunity to represent India in the shortest format of the game and found immediate success.
When Suryakumar was handed an ODI debut, Indian fans were hoping to see fireworks from him for a longer period of time. However, that wasn’t the case as the aggressive batter found it hard to adapt his game to the longer format of white-ball cricket. The Indian team management took a punt by picking him in the 15-man squad for the impending ODI World Cup, ahead of someone like Sanju Samson, who averages over 55. However, Suryakumar’s ability to go after the bowling from ball one might have tipped the scale in his favour.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels that Suryakumar hasn’t lived up to his potential in ODIs and would have to wait for his chances in the World Cup. The former India captain backed Shreyas Iyer to take the No. 4 position in the batting order in the World Cup.
“Suryakumar hasn’t done anything big yet in ODI cricket. He only bats in those final 15-20 overs where he utilises his T20 abilities which undoubtedly is important as well. But Hardik, Ishan and Rahul can all do that same job as well. So Iyer is confirmed for No. 4. Suryakumar will have to wait and if he does get a chance at No. 4 he has to score a big hundred and show that he can also score a ton as well,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Suryakumar Yadav had an impressive series against Australia
The 33-year-old had a fine outing in the three-match ODI series against Australia. He scored two half-centuries and finished with 130 runs in three games at an average of 65 and a strike rate of 139.78.
This series must have given Suryakumar a lot of confidence heading into the marquee event. He might not be in the playing XI when India begin their campaign against Australia on October 8. However, if he finds a place in the side, later in the tournament, having runs under his belt in the Australia series could hold him in good stead.