The curious case of Suryakumar Yadav
The right-hander became the first Indian player to score back-to-back golden ducks
Suryakumar Yadav is undoubtedly the number one T20 batter in the world and rankings prove that as well with a wide range of shots in his armory he can destroy any bowling attack in world cricket which was evident during his half-century knock in the T20 world cup match against South after India lost quick wickets and every batter was struggling on a spicy wicket at Perth.
But Surya had different plans as he smashed South African quicks to all parts of the ground which helped the team in posting a competitive total. Although India lost the match due to some poor fielding as the Indian fielders dropped few easy catches that innings from Surya proved why he is rated so highly by the team management.
All has been going well for Surya especially in the T20 format since 2020 which started with a steller IPL season with the Mumbai Indians as the Rohit Sharma-led side won its fifth IPL title which helped Surya earn his maiden India call-up in the T20I series versus England in March 2021 where he opened his account with a six that too against the bowling of Jofra Archer who bowled a bouncer which Surya pulled for a six to get off the mark in style.
Surya hasn’t looked back since then and has taken huge strides, especially in international T20s where he has been making runs for fun and has now been promoted as the vice-captain of the Indian team in T20 format. In short, Surya has mastered the art of batting in T20.
Image Courtesy: ICC Cricket
The ODI Conundrum: Same cannot be said about Surya the ODI batter as he has visibly struggled in ODI’s in the limited opportunities that he has got so far with the already jam-packed ODI setup. With the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, and Sanju Samson performing well it seems very difficult for Surya to get a go in ODI’s. So, it’s very important for Surya to make every chance that he gets to count as it’s a world cup year, and as far as captain Rohit is concerned he doesn’t like to make changes to the team, especially in a world cup year.
Coming back to Surya, the right-hander has not been able to score big runs or even fifties consistently in the limited opportunities that he has got so far and his record proves it as he has scored 433 runs at an average of 25.47 in 20 innings that he has played so far in ODI with just two half centuries to his name.
The Problem: It is kind of baffling that such a successful T20 batter is struggling to make it big in ODI’s as it is believed that it is easy to switch from a shorter format to a longer format and we have seen players like David Warner, Hashim Amla, Rahul Dravid who have been successful across formats but were once typecasted as one format player.
Image Courtesy: Zee News
Last Hope In The Case Of Suryakumar Yadav
The third and final ODI versus Australia will be a crucial match for Surya if he wants to make it to the world cup team which will be taking place in India later this year. If he fails to score in this match then it might become difficult for him to his spot in the team as the replacement for Iyer who has been nursing a back injury as there are a lot of contenders for the number four spot that is up for grabs in the absence of Shreyas Iyer.
