In the recently-concluded ODI series between India and Australia, Suryakumar was in very poor form and wasn’t allowed to score runs at all.
The star T20I batter could not live up to his 360-degree stroke player image.
Additionally, in the first two ODIs, he was scalped by Mitchell Starc while in the third ODI in Chennai, Ashton Agar got the better of him.
Meanwhile, SKY has received ample support from the skipper, Rohit Sharma. Sharma says that it is unfortunate for SKY to be getting three ducks in the series.
However, Rohit did not delve too much into the question and said that this poor run of form can happen to anyone at any time.
He played only three balls… I don’t know how much you could look into it. Today, I didn’t think it was that great a ball. He just chose a wrong shot. He should have maybe come forward. He knows the rest. He plays spin well. We have seen that over the past couple of years. That’s why we wanted to hold him back and give him that role of the last 15-20 overs where he could play his game.
Adds Rohit,
It’s really unfortunate that he could only play three balls in the series. That can happen to anyone.
Dravid also comes in support of Suryakumar and calls him an excellent player
Additionally, Suryakumar Yadav has often been termed the AB de Villiers of India.
While he has a great record in T20Is where he has three tons to his name, the same is not the case in ODIs.
Moreover, in T20Is, Surya has scored runs at a strike rate of 175.76 while in ODIs, he has only three double-digit scores from his last 11 games.
Overall, SKY’s ODI record reads only 433 runs in 23 games which is below average.
Furthermore, Suryakumar has joined a list of batters who have scored a hattrick of ODI ducks. In this list is the name of India legend Sachin Tendulkar as well.
Apart from Sachin and SKY, the other players are Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah who are all bowlers.
Meanwhile, head coach Rahul Dravid has also come in support of Suryakumar and has called him an excellent player.
Says Dravid,
No really concerned about Surya. He got two very good balls. One of the things about Surya is that he is learning the 50-overs game. The T20 is slightly different. In T20, he has played 10 years of IPL.
Adding further, he says,
He (Surya) has played a lot of T20 cricket. He has played a lot of high-pressure T20 games. Even though he has played a lot of T20 cricket, I think he has not played a lot of one-day cricket. We need to give him some time and be patient with it. We certainly see the upside of him doing well.
But, if Surya’s form continues in this way in ODIs, then the case for Sanju Samson’s inclusion becomes stronger each day.
Therefore, only time will tell how much more the team management wants to give Surya a chance in ODIs.
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