'Arshdeep said he...': Suryakumar Yadav breaks silence on strange tactics to not bat in India vs Oman Asia Cup clash

India's final group-stage match against Oman in the Asia Cup 2025 featured a notable and unconventional batting strategy. T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav made the decision to send out lower-order batters instead of himself during the final overs of the game. This approach drew significant attention from both fans and cricket analysts, with many questioning why one of India's top batters and the team captain did not get the chance to finish the innings.

Why didn't Suryakumar Yadav come to bat in IND vs OMA Asia Cup match?

Ahead of India's Super 4 match against Pakistan, Suryakumar clarified his reasoning behind the decision. He explained that the strategy was primarily about providing an opportunity for players who had not had much time at the crease in earlier games.

“From our batting point of view, our batters didn’t get a lot of game time, starting from Sanju (Samson), Hardik (Pandya), a lot of them, Axar (Patel), even (Shivam) Dube. Tilak (Varma) also against Pakistan didn’t get a lot of time to bat,” Yadav said at the pre-match press conference ahead of India vs Pakistan Super Four clash.

The captain went on to explain his reasoning for sending non-specialists Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh to bat in the final overs of the match. He clarified that the decision was part of his overall strategy.

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"Harshit (Rana) as you may know, he's someone who can bat. So we wanted to see how he can bat in the last 3 or 4 overs and when 1 or 2 overs were left, Arshdeep said that he wanted to go into bat. I said no problem, you can definitely go in. It's completely fine, but I bat or I don't bat, winning the game is more important," he added.

The decision was a "team-first" strategy, intended to give fringe players an opportunity to gain experience in a match situation, all without compromising India's main goal of securing a victory. This approach received mixed reactions from social media users and cricket analysts. Some argued that the captain should have taken charge at the crease, while others praised him for showing trust in his teammates and prioritizing squad development. Despite India's unconventional strategy, Oman put up a strong fight, pushing the game to the very end. However, the superior quality of the Indian bowling attack ultimately secured the victory for the Men in Blue.

Now, India shift their focus to a critical Super 4 match against Pakistan which is scheduled to be played on September 21.