Legendary India cricketer Su nil Gavaskar shared his verdict on Suryakumar Yadav decideding not to bat and give others a chance at the crease during the Men in Blue's Asia Cup clash against Oman on Friday. Notably, the India captain didn't come out to bat against Oman as the other players spent some much-needed time at the crease. Despite this, Sanju Samson's fifty helped India post the joint-highest total of the tournament so far.
The Men in Blue finished their 20 overs at 188/8. Alongside Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma also played valiant cameos of 38 and 29 respectively. The 189-run target would prove to be too much for Oman as they will finish their 20 overs on 167/4 and register their third consecutive loss of the tournament.
Gavaskar felt that Suryakumar could have hit some boundaries if he had come out to bat, however supported the batter's decision by pointing out that he already spent a lot of time at the crease during the clash against Pakistan. The 34-year-old had remained unbeaten on 47, guiding his side to victory over their arch-rivals.
"If he had batted for even one over, he could have hit a few fours and sixes and that would have been good for him. But the way he batted against Pakistan, may be does not need batting practice. He may have thought that Kuldeep Yadav's batting could come in handy if India lose quick wickets in one of the matches. Perhaps that's why he may have sent Kuldeep in to bat," Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.
Gavaskar impressed with Suryakumar's leadership skills
Gavaskar also praised Suryakumar's captaincy style and recalled how he helped India turn a match against Sri Lanka on its head last year with his unorthodoxdecisions. Notably, the skipper himself bowled in the death overs and also gave an over to Rinku Singh. Though it first looked as if this decision would hand Sri Lanka the match, these two overs turned things around and India went on to eventually win the game.
"He is very unorthodox thinker. We saw in Sri Lanka that he himself bowled and also gave Rinku Singh the ball. He turned the game, which seemed to have slipped away, on its head and won India the match. He is an innovative thinker. May be that's why he did not bat and sent in Kuldeep and Arshdeep Singh," Gavaskar added.
Meanwhile, India's next match in Asia Cup will once again be against Pakistan. This will be both the sides' opening clash of the Super 4 stage and they will definitely be eager to begin on a winning note.